


Slaver's Bane

by Aviendha69



Series: SW IX and beyond [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abuse, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Dark Reylo, F/M, Grey Jedi, Grief/Mourning, Hope, Hux's Art School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Multi, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey Solo, Reylo - Freeform, SW Ep X, Slavery, Solo Dyad Adventures, dom!rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:21:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 58,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23111632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviendha69/pseuds/Aviendha69
Summary: First adventure after my "Adult re-telling" of episode IX. With the New Order now guided by a council including Leia and Hux, the Crew finds a new ship to go after slavers wherever they may be found.Ben "manages" his grief, while Rey wants to move forward, as they try to keep the Balance in the Force.
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Reylo
Series: SW IX and beyond [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1717021
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12
Collections: Rey/Ben Solo, Reylo





	1. A New Home

**Author's Note:**

> Totally amateur moodboard by yours truly.  
> Don't like it? Make me one!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new ship, a new mission.

First: they needed a ship. The Millennium Falcon was gone, and the Bat, as much as Ben and Rey Solo loved it, was too small. They needed a ship big enough for a crew of five or six, with amenities, and berths for all. It needed some cargo space as well, though what they expected to carry should never be called cargo. It had to be fast and discreet; it needed a fair amount of firepower, and good shielding. When Poe Dameron finally came across the "slightly used" VCX-100 light freighter, he called Chewbacca and Ben Solo excitedly so they would join him in bidding on it. 

"So, this is the thing to replace the Falcon?" Ben looked at it dubiously. 

"<It looks just like the _Ghost_. I remember that ship, Han admitted it was greater than our ship. Once,>" Chewbacca commented. 

"He did? I can't imagine that. Anyway, this isn't the actual Ghost." Ben turned to Poe. 

"No, but it's a start. We can fix it to make it just as good." 

"Who's we?" 

"Well, Chewie, and Rose. And Rey." 

And Rey. Re-constructing a Rebellion ship would keep her mind off… other things. 

"<Can we take her for a spin?>" 

**

They met with General Armitage Hux on his ship _Aphrodite_. He had been forced somewhat into keeping the rank, though so much of him had changed in the past year he wondered why the Council insisted on keeping him on. He'd let his hair and his beard grow out, for one. He'd adopted the boy Liam who was sharing what knowledge he had of pottery with other artisans they had found and who had joined them. He'd made a new friend. A close friend. 

The four of them looked at the Freedom Flotilla's new acquisition. "She looks fine. You say you'll need parts to modify her? What are you thinking of naming her?" 

"Don't know yet. We need Rey's input for that." 

"Of course. Rey's on Takodana, right now. She wanted to visit with Maz… Maz Kanata?" 

"<Oh, I'd like to go see her myself, show her the new ship,> " said Chewie. 

*

They landed near the Castle in the same spot the Millenium Falcon had landed, only a couple years earlier, if that. Ben Solo was nervously pacing around before the gangplank touched the ground and he stepped back onto the planet where he had first met Rey. He took in the greenery and the lake and it was obvious why Rey would come back to this place. He saw the woods where he had hunted her down and thought of how he had captured her; a bit ashamed of it now, but she had just as surely captured him in the same moment. 

"<Ben,>" Chewie nudged him. "<Shake out of it, come on.>" 

As the Castle's courtyard came into view, they saw the scaffoldings. It was being rebuilt, as it always was after each conflict of power. They saw Rey stand in the entrance court, both arms up, intense effort contorting her face: she was helping lift columns back into their rightful places. They waited for a moment for one of the workers to yell: "release!", and she could let her arms down and turn to them. She was sweaty and her face was red with exertion and streaked with dirt. Her nose was running. Her hair stuck to her brow or out in disarray. 

She was the most beautiful woman Ben had ever seen and he ran the last steps to pick her up and swing her around in his arms. She made to push him away but then laughed and embraced him. He put her down, then finally noticed the rest of the universe around her. There was Maz Kanata. 

"And this big oaf is my husband, Ben Solo." Rey introduced them, wiping her nose on her dirty sleeve before she would kiss him back. 

Maz looked at him for a moment, then said: "We should have met much sooner but you are here now. Well met, young Solo." 

Looking at the ancient wise woman before him, Ben suddenly knelt before her, "I'm at your service, ma’am," he said, and meant it. "Then we will speak," she answered, "now I think Chewie would like a hug." 

Rey looked at the ship they had brought her. It looked familiar. "Is this _the Ghost_?" She asked. 

"Not yet," Poe answered, "we have a little project for you." They walked in with Chewie, leaving Solo and Maz Kanata outside. 

"Follow me," she told him. She found a wooden bench made of hacked-together tree stumps for them to sit on, looking out over the lake. She let a silence grow between them for a moment. Ben fell back into his own thoughts. His stance changed somewhat. She observed him for a while, then said: "You are healing well, Ben Solo." 

"I think I am," he agreed. 

"You worry for Rey." 

"She has nightmares. I wish I could..." he trailed off. 

"You already have given her everything she needs, Ben. You have to wait. She's very young still. There is time until she is ready to try again." 

Maz saw right to the heart of anyone she met, Ben realized. He blurted: "I would have died to save them both, but the Force decided otherwise." 

"That would have been a cheat," she admonished him. "It is much harder to live as the man you are, then to leave some memory, some dream of what you could have been. Think of how much better being with her in the flesh is... than any dream you have with her." Ben blushed, embarrassed by the implication. 

Maz changed the subject: "That red light-saber of yours. You can heal it. Why don't you?" 

"As long as we will be hunting down slavers and Sithspawn and killing them, I need the Darkness." 

"Ah, I see. Meanwhile, I have work for you. Manual labor". 

“Yes, ma’am.”

*** 

The first few months of “the Reconciliation'' had been mostly about establishing a Galaxy-wide network of Confederations, and redefining the powers and limitations of powers of the defunct First Order, now the New Order. It would serve mostly as a diplomatic mission between still-warring systems, as well as a network of mobile universities. Most of its military capacity had been repurposed into trade schools, though it retained a military structure in case some important threat should organize against the system-members that were part of it. One of the major ideals it pursued was "Unity respectful of difference". Its motto was "Inclusion, Education, Respect". 

Ben's vision was taking form. He had dropped the "Supreme Leader" title, though some still liked to tease him occasionally with it, whenever the finer points of bureaucracy — inescapable price of any organization — would make him lose patience. 

Rey loved to tease him with the full "The Great Supreme Leader Kylo Ren" title when, in moments of intimacy, she felt especially sassy. She was a passionate lover, living in the present, and had bounced back from the loss much faster than him, a testament to her relative youth. 

It was harder for him. Sometimes, as they shared their bodies, he would feel the subdermal contraceptive pellet embedded in her arm, and wonder when she would remove it. He never said anything to her, but she noticed his touch. 

Leia Organa-Solo had decided on a five-year engagement with the Council, and when she had announced it, everyone had breathed a sigh of relief. When Ben thought of that, it helped him wait. 

It was hard, moving from ship to planet, then back to ship, living like a nomad in a way, only keeping a minimal amount of possessions, but such was the life of a diplomat. He, Kylo Ren: a diplomat — if a menacing one : he was in charge of the more aggressive negotiations between rival industries or system governments. The irony still struck him every now and then. It made him want to get back to the life of a raider — for they would be raiders when they hunted Slavers — even sooner. 

Rey pursued her studies with Rose Tico on board the Resurgent-class ship _The Promise_. The University ship would travel from system to system, picking up students and staff on a still evolving route, orbiting around each planet for a few weeks so the people on board could go planet-side and not get cabin-fever. This lifestyle suited Rey very much, though it kept them apart more often than together. The Bond helped them keep a semblance of intimacy, if only for the comfort it offered through the nightmares, which were often, and not just for Rey. He had some of his own. 

Most of them were memories of the murders he had committed. Some of them were of the punishments he had received under Snoke. Some of them were of Rey covered in blood and offal from her participation in the Purge aboard the Steadfast. No, those were _her_ nightmares he shared. Every time that flashback surfaced, he wondered if he had made the right decision, wanting her with him; he'd had no way of knowing if they would face troop combat in the Remnicore system. And now, once the new ship was ready, they would become killers again. It was part of keeping the balance. 

They had discovered they could not split the force between them — he a killer, she a healer. He needed to feel the Light and make the gift of healing and sharing to remain sane; and Rey... she needed to destroy and kill things every now and then, else the energy turned against him, or against someone else close to her. That misunderstanding had cost them friends. She'd even hurt him a few times until he realized he should not submit to her in that mood; it only made her more destructive, turning their lovemaking into a duel. So, every now and then, they would consult Intelligence and find some tribe or government that needed help dealing with bandits or rogue wildlife. 

On very rare occasions, they would find Sithspawns. They called those raids "Dragon hunts". 

When they docked on _The Promise_ , Rose came to meet them. Rose had forgiven Rey for her last lashing out — though it took a while — and then moved in with Finn, which was an understandable arrangement anyway. They were betrothed now. 

"So this is the new ship," Rose said when she saw it. "What are you calling her?" 

"Don't know yet," Rey thought, "Ghost II? No, that would be lame." 

"You want her decked out like the _Ghost_? That would make sense, I guess." 

"She's going to be our project, Rose... if you'll work with me?" Rose nodded gladly. Rey turned to Ben: "Who's paying for this ship?" 

"A bunch of people and governments offered, actually. I think they want me out of their hair." Ben replied sheepishly. 

Poe laughed; "We'd like Finn to join the crew, Rose. Ask him for us? It's the best use of his skills." 

"He's trying to pick up other skills, you know." Rose wanted to settle down somewhere. Somewhere she could plant a garden. Ben looked at her with a pinch of envy. "Well, we're offering, if he wants the job. Besides, he needs Force training. Meanwhile, this girl needs a baffler device. You're still the best engineer when it comes to those, I hear." 

"Sophomore Engineer. You're ever the charmer, Ben Solo." He raised an eyebrow at that. "So who's the Captain?" 

They all looked at Rey. "What!? We haven't decided yet," she growled. 

Ben stayed with her that night, as he had about once every fortnight for the past few months, much academic catching up to do and short semesters leaving her little free time. It made for intense lovemaking and very little sleep. When she finally dozed off, he felt for the pellet in her arm; it was still there. He chastised himself: _you have to stop doing that, you're only torturing yourself._

The memory of having lost her, even if only for minutes, the horrible grief that had engulfed him was more than he could bear. He knew she had feared the same thing and had gotten pregnant in the hopes it would help her survive that kind of loss. Instead, the injuries they had sustained had caused another loss. Now that she felt safe, it wasn't as pressing; she had not even been aware of her state until the doctor had told her. 

For Ben, the immense joy he had felt when he had found that little life within her had forever transformed him. He wanted nothing more than to bring that joy to fruition. It was all he could think of at times. 

He thought of Anakin Skywalker. That sobered him up. His grandfather had been driven mad by such feelings. He had to shake them. He had her with him now. He woke her. 

"Let's go pick out our cabin on the new Ghost," he teased her. He could be brazen too. 

The next two months were even longer than the whole year before that. 


	2. The Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations leading up to a first raid. Learning to work together.

Until the semester ended and the ship was modified, Ben divided his time between visits with his mother, his brother-in-arms Armitage, his work, and now his medical classes as he had decided to improve his healing skills. It was incredibly gratifying to share some of his life this way, and the knowledge he was acquiring gave him confidence. When he visited his mother, he would lay hands on her and relieve some of her aches and pains, and it made him happy. 

Every time Leia looked at her son and saw him smile, she thanked the Maker for saving him. Every time. But he was terrible at negotiating peace treaties. His approach was more like hammering both sides into submitting to cease-fires while a more cool-headed team would study the conflict to find middle-ground. It was time he got back to the hunt. There was no denying the killer instinct in him, though his insistence on healing his prisoners must confuse them to no end. It had started rumors. 

"So the ship's ready. You found your first target?" she asked him when he came by to announce the wait was over.

"A few targets. We're a small team, we'll have to capture small bands so we can follow their chain of command up to ring-leaders that need to be taken out with an actual contingent of shock-troops." 

"Once you make enough of a dent in the slave-markets, there are mines and industries that will want to review their practices regarding labor." 

"That's what we're hoping for. It also means a lot more mechanization." He turned to C3PO, "how are the Droid's analysis coming along?" His father and Chewbacca had told him about his first mission with Lando Calrissian, and the Droid L3-37. She was also a casualty of their confrontation with the Tor Valum, being part of the Millenium Falcon. During his years as Kylo Ren, he had mistrusted Droids in general; he felt more confident around them, now. 

"We still believe sentience can be a case by case examination process. Those manufacturers are always trying to change the definition of sentience, raising the bar each time. I think if they followed their own guidelines, half of them wouldn't pass their own tests," the golden-head droid chuckled. 

"How about what we do with the slaves we find? Any news on that?" Ben asked Leia. It was one of the weaker aspects of their plans: _what to do with the rescued slaves?_ Most could be returned to their homeworlds without too much problems, but multi-generational slaves…

They were broken on a level they found hard to deal with. 

"We're finding solutions son, you can't fix everything in only a couple years. You have to concentrate on what you can do. You'll find Force-sensitive people eventually, and then you'll have to found that school you've been talking about. That will mean a permanent base. With a garden." 

Ben shot her a look: his mother understood him perfectly. "I'm thinking Takodana. I'll ask Maz Kanata." 

She nodded. "When are you meeting Armie?" Leia had come to appreciate Armitage Hux as anotherson. He worked as hard at resolving conflicts and organizing communities of knowledge-sharing as he had worked at destroying the Republic. Better: he studied intensively how the Republic had functioned and that knowledge informed his input and the Council’s every decision. 

"After we pick up the ship and the crew. I'll go when you kick me out." 

"In that case there are dishes to do. You can go after that." 

"Yes, mom." 

"I'm kidding, son. How's Rey? How are you?" 

"She still has nightmares. Other than that, her studies are going really well," he paused. 

Leia felt the pause, but asked: "And you?" 

"I'm getting better. Studying medicine is the best idea I’ve had in years." 

"Why are you taking her on these raids, before she finishes her degree?" It was hard to understand. 

He hesitated, then finally said: "I'm keeping my promise to the troops. And it's the only way to keep the balance." 

"The only way you found." 

He nodded. 

**

He stopped on _The Promise_ , Poe with him on the _Bat_ (Rey’s moniker for the First Order command shuttle had stuck). Rose and Rey had finished most of the pressing modifications: the shielding and the baffling. The weapons system was adequate for now, they didn't expect a lot of space confrontations, mostly ground work. They started loading their baggage into the ship. 

Rey looked up at him, a slightly anxious frown on her face: the ship would be their home for the next year or more. She brought a few crates of engineering manuals and some medical ones, to work on that aspect of her abilities as well. They would be together much of the time now, it would be a test for both of them, and for the four others making up the crew: Chewie, Poe, Finn, and BB-8. 

Finn would be with them for a time. He felt strongly about freeing slaves, especially as an ex- stormtrooper and a member of the New Order. It had not been hard to get him on board, and now that they knew he was Force-sensitive, he needed training; both Ben and Rey needed training as trainers themselves. 

Rose resisted the temptation. She only had one more year to go before she was officially received as an Engineer: it was all she had ever wanted. Their parting goodbyes were moving. The crew promised to bring Rose’s fiancé back safe, but everyone knew the job was risky beyond measure: a dirty but necessary job. 

**

On the Aphrodite, Armitage Hux hosted them in his quarters. It was the first time most of them would get to see his collection. It was impressive now; each piece carefully documented, the description including a story of how he had acquired it. Some of the stories — - the first ones at least — - were less than heroic. 

Hux felt it was important to remember the errors of the past. 

A favorite was a pieced-together round vase with gazelles running around it. It had been mended with a laquer of mixed clay dust and green gold, the breaks apparent. The technique was the same that had been used to repair Kylo Ren's helmet — now stashed away with Darth Vader’s helmet in the museum on Coruscant. It was a reminder of the resilience of the soul, if the significance of each repair diverted. 

Among the new pieces were thick, uneven ones with crude motifs on them. Hux was especially proud of those pieces. They were his. 

The boy Liam came home with his "other father" Mateo, a tall, quiet man, with dark eyes and long dark hair. He was a Master Potter that had been taken to work in the green gold mines. When Hux had found him, everything seemed to fall into place... though it had taken him a while to understand it. 

It was a pleasant last evening before the beginning of the series of missions that would occupy the next years; a quiet diner with subtle background music, coffee and brandy to accompany a fine dessert. The crew relaxed, exchanging war stories with as much candour and trust as they could summon. They were friends now.

Before they left, Hux took Ben aside: “I was glad I could adopt Liam. He really makes my life complete. From what I understand, you could have more children than you know what to do with soon. You know art is an excellent way for trauma victims to express themselves. They will be welcomed here until you build your base." 

Ben embraced him: "We should celebrate the anniversary of Snoke's death. What do you say? Make it a New Order Holiday?" 

" ‘One man's traitor is another man's freedom fighter’. Look at Finn's desertion, it set up a whole series of events. Snoke's death was just a step on the path to peace. But we can reminisce over a bottle of brandy anytime you miss him, if you want," he laughed. 

** 

Last stop, the _Steadfast_ ; for supplies, to stow the Bat, and get fresh intel. Admiral Kayda Ordo was now head of the flagship. A woman who had always made herself very discreet under Snoke, she had been one of the most resolute in supporting the purge effort during Pryde's failed mutiny. She was a short-haired, androgynous woman who had three children by unrecognized fathers; her courage had been known only by close friends. Now she shone whenever conflict with a system seemed inevitable. 

She confirmed the intel they had gathered from their sources: most of the targets they had selected were still in place. They picked the one closest to their present location: a small temporary compound on an unremarkable planet in an unremarkable system. It would probably be a very minor gang, but they hadn't exactly worked together as a team like this since the Tor Valum operation, and they had not encountered anything that shot back in that fight. 

That night, everyone had nightmares, and in the morning, everyone had doubts. This would be the test they had been preparing for for weeks. 

They had divided into two teams, each with a Force user: Rey and Chewie and Poe to the North, Ben and Finn to the South. Lightsabers were to be used as a last resort only, being rather conspicuous, so they used blasters and daggers. They had chain cutters too. The above ground slave-enclave was fairly vulnerable, with simple pens holding the people in. 

They lowered their faceguards and put up their shields. 

They neutralized the guards first, then attacked the chiefs, before freeing the slaves. On this first raid, they took prisoners: chances were the guards were slaves themselves. When the sun came up, they had captured five slavers, killed two, and saved ten people. Everything had gone right. 

On board the ship, they locked up the bandits into the cargo bay that had been transformed into a brig. The other bay, the one for the people found, was more comfortable.. They fed and fixed-up everyone — - even the prisoners — - then began the questioning: where they were from, where they were going. They managed to return the victims to their village, with a report filed for surveillance in case of retaliation. 

Force-probing gave them the information they sought: who the lot was destined for. For Rey, this was the "training" part of the operation. Force-probing could be brutal, and generally the pain increased with the resistance of the subject. The trick, of course, was to be as gentle as possible, giving a chance for the "client" to lower his barriers himself. Poe, Finn and Rey all participated in the interrogation, Poe and Finn as observers, Rey for some hands-on experience. 

"Feel that?" Ben said to her, "Fear is a slow barrier to break down. When you meet fear, you have to slow almost to a crawl, like soothing a scared animal. Otherwise you cause real pain. A pain you share with the subject." He explained this all matter-of-factly, and his witnesses discovered once again how Kylo Ren had been a miserable Darksider all these years. He had been meant for the Light all along. 

" _Pride_ on the other hand. It's best to punch through pride fast, or else be prepared for another kind of battle." 

"What kind?" Rey asked her teacher. 

"Resisting the sweet intoxication of breaking your enemy. Their pain gives you pleasure.” He shrugged, “it's as simple as that, really." It would distract him from his goal and the prisoner would die, not having given up the information. He had learned better control the hard way. He would have nightmares tonight, from remembering past interrogations. 

"You have to pick up your subject's disposition right from the start, and it may change during the process. And sometimes, they know nothing. It happens: you have to recognize that too." 

They delivered their "guests'' to the ship _The Avenger_ , a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer like the _Finalizer_. It was both a temporary jail and justice system. The surviving slavers would be imprisoned, though their sentencing would be greatly influenced by the information gleaned from them. 

"So the slavers are now slaves?" said Finn. 

"Justice can be poetic," said Poe. "At least they're not innocent, and it's not forever. They are re-trained and paid for their work." 

**

That night, Ben woke up in a sweat, just as he thought he would. He felt Rey turn towards him to embrace him. She barely woke as she sent him soothing calm through the Bond. Once again, he was grateful for her comfort. 

“You took your mask off when you interrogated me,” she mumbled, remembering the first time she saw his face. 

“I did.” It had been an impulsive move. Between her fear and her defiance he’d found surprising courage, so he’d tried to tame her instead. He’d hoped showing her a human face would ease her. He had also wanted to see her with his own eyes, hear her voice without filter. 

"So beautiful," she added softly, snuggling closer to him.

He’d made himself vulnerable and she had burned right through every defense into his very soul. 

"I know what we can name the ship," she whispered sleepily, "The Dragon". 

And so, _The Dragon_ was born.


	3. The Corruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too young, too powerful, too passionate.

For the next few raids, everything went reasonably well: surprise the encampment, capture the slavers, free the slaves, get more intel. Chewie, unsurprisingly, was the best raid planner among them. They tried different team combinations, they took turns "captaining" the ship: no easy feat with three hotheads on board. Since lightsabers were too identifiable, the crew had found or commissioned a series of bladed weapons: long and short vibro-swords and a glaive for Rey that was as tall as her. She could use it much the same way she did her Lightstaff when she lit only one end, and slice a man's throat from two meters away. Chewie found a "silent" bowcaster: the thing's kickback made him the only one who could really use it. 

Finn had learned to cast a protective shield and Force-push enemies or objects. Poe was getting used to close combat, though he was best at stealthily making his way to the enclosures that held their clients. 

Together, they were a pack of wolves. 

Sometimes they celebrated "No Death" raids. Sometimes, things went terribly wrong and the slavers executed the slaves instead of surrendering them. Those always sent Rey into such a rage she would hack the slavers apart one by one and the crew would be hard-pressed to keep even one alive for intel. “The Dragon” was becoming her nickname as much as the ship's. They looked to Ben to control her, and he felt that was unfair: to him, to her. He had enough of controlling himself and she needed to free the Darkness inside her, as he had learned and they seemed to forget. Finn hadn't forgotten, at least. 

The outcomes of the raids affected their lovemaking in ways that sometimes made him uneasy — when she would be both exciting and terrifying — and he couldn't figure out if he should  _ submit  _ her or submit  _ to _ her. He had found it better to match her energy than to compensate, though it would hurt to do so. The crew had given him dirty looks a few times until they saw him come out with his own bruises. 

That had shut them up: she was a  _ fury _ . 

To Rey, the blood and the fire of those raids let her reach heights of power that thrilled her to no end. Every hit on her enemy was a hit on Unkar Platt, on Snoke, on the Tor Valum. Every death was a liberation of the companions she had known and lost on Jakku, on Crait, elsewhere. In those moments, she was in a sort of trance, and she knew she frightened even him. And everytime she was in that state she had to decide  _ not  _ to kill him this time, as she had decided  _ last  _ time. She saw in his eyes that he knew this. 

Other times, there were so many injured to take care of she felt like she must visibly  _ glow  _ with Light, and she healed people until she nearly passed out. When children were involved, her heart swelled within her and it felt so right it moved her to a joy she could not contain. She would exchange a different look with Ben then, and see his heart leap. 

Now she was more discreet; it felt selfish, but she was not so ready anymore. It was during such a healing that she found the first one. 

The girl's name was Ada. She was an Ardenian of the blue variety, just on the verge of her change. 

Rey had felt push-back during the healing bond and she'd had to vocally soothe the girl into accepting her gift. When Rey ran to tell Ben, she was so excited he was reminded of how he had told Snoke about the Scavenger-who-had-resisted him. 

_ Had I known _ , he thought. He cautioned her: they were still improvising at this point; Finn made progress because of the trust they had developed between them over the past two years, even as that trust had been tested a few times. They were training Finn as a Light warrior, but they had no idea how to balance that with Dark knowledge yet. 

It was time to ask for guidance. 

*

_ *Master Yoda, how young can the training start?*  _

_ *When they are self-aware, accept the training they can.*  _

_ *What happens to an untrained adult?*  _

_ *Adults have to unlearn, but teach they can too.*  _

*

_ *What should I teach of the Dark Side?*  _

_ *Its history, first. Why the split happened in the first place.* _ Anakin 

_ *History? I won't be able to keep their attention then.*  _

_ *Then tell mine. Better yet, tell yours, they've heard of the Great Kylo Ren.*  _

That was a sobering thought. What lessons had he learned? 

*

Luke:  _ *Wait until you have a class of five at least. You have Finn to practice on until then*  _

_ *Do you have Grey Jedi with you, in that… place where you are?*  _

_ *This place is a maze of portals and paths, Rey, I haven't finished exploring it myself.*  _

*

They made a print of the Grey Jedi code and put it in the common area: 

> _ There is no Light without Darkness  _
> 
> _ Through Passion, I gain Focus  _
> 
> _ Through Knowledge, I gain Power  _
> 
> _ Through Serenity, I gain Strength  _
> 
> _ Through Victory, I gain Harmony  _
> 
> _ There is only the Force  _

They sat and looked at it. Something about it bothered them, but they couldn't tell what. It would serve as a starting point. 

The girl Ada was relatively unscathed, she had family still alive on Coruscant. They brought her there, with recommendations and instructions that she would be admitted to a special school when a group could be formed. 

They picked up a secondary crew to accompany them, a mix of Resistance guerrilla warriors and Shocktroopers, making sure to mix and match them well. They would usually do the dirty work of neutralizing the guards. 

Chewie was the one leading them. It amused him to no end. 

That crew had their own transport. The addition of the modified TIE-fighter  _ The Whisper _ made their team a small fleet. They wouldn’t add the  _ Bat _ though. It was too "private", and Ben reluctantly agreed with Poe's position: they were  _ The Dragon' _ s Crew.

***

The next force user they found was an unfortunate surprise. Keelcali Tilhod was an older human female. She was tough and had been a slave for fifteen years before being promoted to her current position. They had discovered her ability during her interrogation. Ben immediately snapped the contact and warned his crew. This is what they had been afraid of: someone like him. 

"You mean someone like Rey," Finn said. Poe pushed his chair back, startled. Chewie went to the cockpit. 

Rey got up: "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Someone wild, untrained, with anger issues," he added. 

"Anger issues? You say I have anger issues? You haven't  _ seen me _ angry, Finn 2187!" 

"Finn, stop," Poe grabbed his shoulder. "Don't wake the Dragon," he murmured. 

The words hung in the air for a breath until Rey muttered "Don't wake the Dragon." Then she walked out. 

Ben fell back into his chair.  _ How do I deal with this? _ Chewie came back. They all sat back down. After a while, Poe spoke : "First of all, the woman we caught is anything but wild and angry, she's cold as ice; you could also say she trained herself. She's been living in the Dark for years. Finn?" 

"Yeah, yeah. I just... I guess she scares me." Finn relented. 

"<She should. She scares me.>" grunted Chewie. 

"No, I mean Rey." Another silence. 

He was right. Rey had come into her power suddenly and violently. Her Dyad-half was the only one who could contain her, but it cost him. Finally Ben said: "Maybe she just needs more time to adjust." 

Poe looked at him, then looked at the others around the table. "Maybe we've put it all on your shoulders, Ben. Maybe we enjoyed watching Kylo Ren get kicked around for a while, for whatever reason. But we're a team now. We'll help you, and we'll help her." 

"<No wonder there were the Jedi and the Sith. They almost had it easy, picking a side like that. This balance thing looks to be a bitch.>" 

"Yeah it is, Uncle. Finn, you start the Dark side tomorrow." 

*

Rey wandered aimlessly for a while. They had landed in a clearing and she followed into the woods an animal track she came across. Running usually helped her clear her mind, but there wasn't space on board the Dragon for her to run. She took in the huge trees of the forest around her, the birds, the critters; she breathed the fresh air. 

Though she ran, her thoughts stayed angry. 

_ The Dragon, _ she thought;  _ they call me the Dragon _ . They were afraid of her. Finn was still afraid of her, even after she had apologized, even after Rose had forgiven her, even after months had passed without a new incident. Poe was afraid of her. Chewie was...nervous around her. And Ben. 

That one she couldn't figure out. He was stronger than her, especially now that he had let the Light back in. His double training and his years ahead of her meant that he could always stop her when her mood turned — if he reached her in time. 

And she loved to challenge him that way, loved pushing his buttons until he fell into Kylo Ren. Even if he overcame her, even if it meant for some pain when he would finally push her down and take her; there was no denying the pleasure, the passion, and she was sure he felt the same way. 

After, he always looked a little ashamed and she enjoyed that as well. They were young, they were lovers, they were killers. 

They were Dragons, both of them. 

So what if sometimes she got carried away and killed more than her share of slavers? Why not? Why should the boys get all the fun? Sure, she was still having trouble not killing the head slavers when Force-probing, but she probably just needed  _ more  _ practice, not less. 

Besides, she healed almost as much as she killed, surely that balanced things out? 

She stopped running. 

It was unfair. The way they wanted her to always stand in the Light while they asked no such thing of Ben, when he was the biggest killer among them. She was enraged now, and there was the fire of lust as well. She called on her Dark energy and set one of the great trees on fire. 

There, that would do it. 

She watched as it burned and birds and critters flew or jumped out of it to safety. A snake landed at her feet and she kicked it away. Then she heard screaming and saw a family of monkeys rapidly climbing to the top. They were trapped. 

She felt the ship's little shuttle land behind her: of course Ben would come save the day, he always did. She turned around and saw Poe. He ran to stand beside her, looking up at her destruction. 

One of the monkeys jumped to its death before she could catch it. She had to pry the others out of the tree with much Force, so much they resisted her. She brought them to ground level and they ran into the woods, their home destroyed. 

Poe broke out into a sweat but said nothing. He didn't have to. 

"Don't tell," she told him. 

"I'm not lying for you. Not anymore," he replied. 

She turned and took a step towards him and there was a spark between them. He swayed but quickly got a hold of himself and stood his ground. 

"Don't  _ ever  _ try that on me again, Rey Solo. I’m not a boy." 

He walked back to the shuttle. She heard the comms through the open door: "Yeah, I found her. Yeah, the fire was her. No, no ‘sentient’ was hurt. She's coming, I think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She gets feisty:  
> [Taming the Dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23294605)  
> Not used in here because, whoa, but it gives you an idea...of my twenties XD


	4. Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, this went dark quickly. Where are these people taking me?

"Rey, we still have to deal with the Force-user we found." Finn had calmed somewhat. The notion of starting Dark side training had sobered him. He had plenty of things that made him angry, but adding the Power of the Force to that anger would be a challenge he was just beginning to understand. 

"<What do the other slavers have to say about her?>" Chewie wondered, "<we could find out how strong she is that way.>" 

Of the two men who had survived the raid, only one understood what they were asking — her immediate chief. Comprehension dawned on his face as he explained the way she had manipulated him into following her plans, even when they contradicted direct orders from the boss, getting him in trouble again and again. It wasn't a seduction, he told them. More that he would get forgetful and confused as to what he was supposed to do, then she would "remind him" of the next step. 

Her plans were good, though; they had acquired a reputation in the system. A notoriety for supplying the freshest "meat-girls" to the Elite. 

Rey went to see the slave-girls they had. All of them said they had been taken for the first time, though their bodies told a different story. Their memories had been wiped. 

Finn had a flash of insight: "She re-programs them! That way, it's always their first… time." Shock wrote itself on his face, on all their faces. It was monstrous. 

Then Ben said something just as terrible: 

"She must have thought she spared them some pain." The Dark side; justifying its actions. 

"What do we do with someone like that? “Poe asked. ”She could just mind-trick one of us into freeing her, but then what would she do?" 

"We have to know what her intentions were, and what they are now." Ben said. 

"We have to go in together," added Rey. 

They held hands in the interrogation cell. Rey would establish the probe, Ben would be her tether. Keelcali Tilhod sat proud now, thinking she had deflected Ben's initial probe. Rey pushed through quickly, impressing her with her immense power, letting her see how her other interrogations had gone wrong. The woman's mien turned to fear, and Rey softened her touch. She lifted layers of the woman's suffering gently, letting the slaver show her fifteen years of slavery. Showing moments when her heart had hardened. When she had discovered her gift. When she had almost escaped. When she chose to stay on with the other girls. That was the crux of it. 

“Why did you stay?”

“I have a daughter. I  _ had  _ a daughter. I wiped her memory. There was nowhere to go after that.” 

Rey faltered. Ben pulled her back gently. He took her place. 

“Is she still alive?”

“Her body lived for five years until Efrroy Bowbry finally killed her,” an immense rage rose in her then: the source of her power. Flashes of this Bowbry flooded his mind, just glimpses, but fresher memories showed clearer and longer moments. 

“We will help you find him,” Ben decided, as a tear opened in his mind. Rey pulled him back with a jerk. 

"That was close," Ben breathed. The woman before them seethed with malevolence. She had nurtured revenge for ten years. It consumed her. But they had their first Qaid identified. 

Looking at the hard, obsessed woman he had just mind-probed, Ben had the feeling he was seeing himself if he'd had better self-control. As the link faded, it left behind a strange residue, like soot. Then that faded too. 

*

"That was the best interrogation you have ever done," Ben complimented her, "excellent control." 

Rey accepted the compliment. It had been a good idea to work together; the woman was dangerous, not just some  _ ordinary  _ human. "We still have to decide what to do with her." 

"We'll make her an offer… an offer she can't refuse. Work with us, or face a simpler kind of justice. You saw what she's done." 

It was a tough call to make, releasing a dangerous criminal into the wild like that; but they had done it before. They kept the slaves and her "supervising" slaver, with some compensation to ease her return. Tilhod agreed to give them intel about a sister gang they could cross-reference with. Their target, this Efrroy Bowbry, was on Tinnel IV, but the precise location was yet unknown. 

**

That night, Rey was soft with him. She revisited his every scar, relieving the pain that lingered, offering to erase them, but he insisted on keeping them to remind him of his past. She gave him more attention than she had in a while and he surrendered to her care, letting himself fall into her pool of Light. This was what he had felt with their fourth Force- connection: this tenderness. It had peeled open his heart. 

To Rey, bringing Kylo Ren into this state of calm and well-being was a victory of the Light no killing or resisting him could match. She knew it was the intimacy, the trust, the touch they had shared that had pulled him to her. Sometimes she remembered the ride in the elevator up to Snoke's throne room, the way he had looked at her then, a look she had never seen on anyone's face before; and once again she wondered if she should have just accepted his hand then. She looked at him fall asleep beside her: they were home. 

***

They were near Kef Bir, so they decided to visit with Jannah and her tribe. The fallen Death Star was still an incomparable site, so they landed within sight of it, and Finn took the shuttle to find the company of ex-stormtroopers. She was less than a day away, and was glad to come meet with them, see the legendary crew that had done so much for the galaxy. 

When the dusk-skinned apprentice came back, since they were planet-side, they made him work with fire. It was easy for him to ignite fire from a Dark place, but just as it was for Rey, control was better done from the Light, and the challenge was in the balance of it. Then Ben came out and just  _ did  _ it, explaining the finer points as he went along. Poe and Chewie looked at them. Rey was young and impulsive, and Finn was just starting out. 

Ben was  _ balanced _ . 

Poe remembered how meeting him on this planet had been. Kylo Ren defeated, walking into the  _ Falcon’s  _ little improvised brig of his own volition. So different from the time they had met on Jakku. Poe had been the one defeated then. And there had been the first time they had met while their mothers visited, as teenagers aspiring to become the best pilots in the Galaxy. Terrible forces had cast them on opposite sides of a Galactic conflict, transforming Leia’s son into someone unrecognizable. Since then, they had learned to work together, to trust each other. They had shared Force-healing Rey together. 

They were friends. Rey's attempt to sway him earlier suddenly felt even more unsettling. 

When the tribe arrived late morning the next day, it had grown. There were more women, and more children than last time. Jannah had a babe at her breast. She smoothed its hair and smiled at Poe. 

"This one's yours", she announced. There were astonished gasps all around. 

"I thought you were safe!" he exclaimed. "I thought  _ I _ was safe!" he added. The others moved away, giving them privacy. 

"Oh, it's safe enough here," she replied. "I thought you were good material, so I decided to go with it. He has your eyes, see?" 

He looked at the boy cradled in his mother's arm. Thick, curly dark hair framed dark, almond- shaped eyes capped with thick expressive brows. The big boy was suckling happily. 

"I wish you would have told me," he finally said to her once he could look Jannah in the eye again. "Or asked?" 

"I don't get many visitors," she said, unphased, "and I can't take one of them," she indicated her brothers-in-arms. "It seemed a natural thing to do. I didn't expect to see you again anyway. I don't need anything from you, if that worries you." 

Poe fell silent then asked: "What's his name?" 

"Poe'son." She beamed at him, and it was obvious she was happy. 

"Poe'son." He repeated, the shock beginning to wear off, "I — I won't mind if you  _ do  _ need anything from me, Jannah." And that, was that. He looked back at the gang, an unsure smile growing on his face. 

Finn was the first to congratulate him, then Chewie slapped him on the shoulder hard enough to buckle his knees a bit. Then the others pat him before they congratulated the mother as well. Ben lingered over her, looking at the babe: he had not seen one so young since he had been a child himself. Jannah looked at him, confused recognition on her face. 

"You were here before; they picked you up, said you were lost," she told him. 

"Yeah, I was lost. I'm found now." 

She looked at him more closely. Her eyes narrowed: "Who are you? I feel like I should know you." 

His shoulders slumped a bit, then he straightened: "I am Ben Solo, son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. You knew me as Kylo Ren." Her eyes widened, and emotions flitted across her face. Finally, she nodded. "Good thing they found you when they did, then. Well met, Ben Solo." 

He let out a long exhalation, "Well met, Jannah." 

Rey moved in closer: "Ben Solo is my husband," she announced... a little loudly. They looked at her in surprise. 

Then Jannah laughed and Ben grinned, " _ yes I am _ ." 

**

Poe spent the rest of the day learning how to ride Orbaks. It just seemed to be a natural thing to do. Poe's son was passed around from arm to arm, everyone cooing and making silly expressions to see who could make him laugh. Chewie was the most at ease of all of them, reminding them he had a son of his own and had cradled Ben as a child and they listened to him tell stories of how much trouble his nephew could get himself into, embarrassing him a few times.

When Poe came back to sit with them, they dumped a sleeping babe in his arms and he quickly calmed down, staring at the bundle until there seemed to be nothing else in the world for him. 

Around the fire, after the sun set, some of the older children had gathered around Ben Solo. They seemed to be drawn to him. He was tall and dark and an imposing figure, but calm. To these children of stormtroopers and native warriors, the scar on his face was a story that demanded to be told. So, after some encouragement and a third beer, he began to tell the story of the Fall of Kylo Ren — into the Light. 


	5. Some Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking stock of the situation

That night, Ben was given a dream. He had been allowed to muck out the stables of some great grass eating beasts. They were like the Orbaks, but stockier, beefier, not for riding. They had short horns on huge heads and thick wooly hides. He had the notion they normally roamed in immense herds out in some mythical grassland, but in his dream they came to some kind of low-roofed wooden temple, held up by thick tree-trunk columns, carved in intrinsic designs. It was decorated in colorful banners and had no doors or walls to speak of, but some low-walled divisions. When he walked in, some of the beasts looked at him, and he heard an elder one speaking to him: it was a greeting, nothing more. 

He was overcome with humility. As he was shoveling and raking, his tool, now a wooden shovel, now a wooden rake, would hit against the posts of the wooden boxes and make a soothing sound like that of the wooden wind chimes that hung in places around the temple. He felt satisfaction at mucking out the boxes, then putting down fresh straw. When he woke, it felt like he had been found. For once, it was not by some malevolent being; there was curiosity, nothing more. 

**

Rey was outside, looking at the fallen Death Star. Seeing a huge ruin jutting out of rolling dunes — even water dunes — sometimes reminded her of Jakku, but these ruins were where Ben and her had finally come together to join forces. She remembered the crushing guilt that had washed from him when he thought he had successfully turned her to the Dark side, how that possibility had broken him more surely than any death blow. Now it seemed his every step into the Light pushed her further into Darkness to maintain the balance; but her failure to control that Darkness inside herself caused him pain, she realized. Unless they completely switched sides, she was forced to remain in the Light, as an anchor for him, while he would probably be forced to continue killing people until the end of his life. How could they raise a child in such circumstances? 

He joined her and sat with her with his cup of caf, and they watched the sun finally peek over the dark ruins in the bay. 

Poe was saying goodbye to Jannah and the babe Poe'son reluctantly, but with a promise to come back with medical supplies and a few things he hoped the tribe could use. Finn was amusing himself Force-lifting BB-8 off the ground, who was mock-protesting loudly; he was gaining strength daily. He was also starting to long for Rose. Chewie was throwing some of the early-bird kids up into the air and catching them, and they whooped in laughter. It was obvious he was remembering an earlier time. 

The crew finally took off and made their way to the Steadfast to meet Councilor Organa. 

***

Leia was beginning to hear rumors of a not-so-mysterious raider crew giving "suppliers" a hard time, and making the price of "the help" go up. The stakes were rising. They had to adapt their approach to reflect the change in level of their quarry. It was time to end the small raids: they were trained now. The ratio of survivors versus deaths had improved, some of their raids ending as soon as the tall, "scar-faced" leader, or the "Dragon-woman" were spotted among them, causing an immediate surrender. They had a list — short but cross-referenced between the Order’s intel and their growing network of “volunteers” — of higher targets to find. 

On her end, Leia and her team of researchers were gathering information on the clients of the slavers. They were constantly shipping "ressources" back and forth between them, even going so far as registering them as "union workers" in some cases. Superficial inspections would show smiling floor workers, until one saw a worker hurriedly slip away to another part of the mine or facility. Bolder inspectors would insist on carrying their work further into the "dangerous" areas. Sometimes they found whole cellars of captive workers. Sometimes they had "unfortunate accidents". Sometimes they suddenly quit. And sometimes... they had to be replaced. 

The Elites would profess ignorance and fire or execute lower-echelon officers. Survivors would pop-up in some other company, or system or government. They were the loyal ones: to get them, a clear chain of command had to be established. That meant operations in cities or military-type bases. As they started to discuss their next target on Tinnel IV, Leia thought of someone who could help: Jothan Tiaan Jerjerrod. He was here on the Steadfast, where Leia was staying and they were all together for the evening. She called for him. 

While they waited, supper was served. Leia was tired and drifted off a bit while the crew ate and relaxed. She let herself feel their personal mood and was surprised to find some vague malaise between them. It was subtle, like things denied can be, but unmistakable. She looked at each in turn, trying to puzzle out the source of discomfort. After a moment she saw brows furrow when they looked at Rey. 

It was Rey. Of course it would be. 

She was tempted to call her away from the group to ask her if anything was wrong, but realized, seeing the way the young woman laughed loudly and took up more space than she usually did, that a direct intervention could turn into a confrontation. She looked at her son. He looked as besotted as ever with his wife, even as he wore a light frown hidden in his left brow. She looked at Chewbacca, signaled him when she caught his eye. She got up to walk over to the sitting room. 

"Chewie, what's going on with Rey?" There was no need for detours with Chewie. 

"<Leia, I think Rey's having a hard time controlling her Dark side. We're working on that, but she's damn powerful.>" 

"We? It's a team effort now?" 

"<Aye, it's a team effort. We realized she wasn't Ben's personal responsibility, after...>" 

"After..." she prompted him. 

"<After we realized he couldn't handle her by himself.>" 

"Handle her? Is it that bad?" 

"Chewie, leave me a moment with my mother." Chewie excused himself, following Ben's unmistakable order. 

He came to stand with her, looking outside at the star that burned bright above them. "I wasn't quite done with Chewie," Leia stated, though her son had merely rescued his uncle from an uncomfortable situation. She waited. 

"Things are complicated right now. No, it's not that so much anymore," he answered her quizzical expression, "that" being the grief and the hope for children. As he spoke those words, he realized how now would be a terrible time for her to bear a child. He felt his heart finally let go of the ache of the past two years. He had been selfish. Leia lay a supporting hand on her son's arm, reading the change in expression on his face. 

"I had ten years of Jedi training and ten years of Sith-like training and I still have trouble controlling myself at times. And I'm in my thirties. She's so young, and I'm the one training her. I'm pretty much the Captain of the crew; by default, anyway. I'm her husband. And her lover. I'm  _ everything  _ to her." 

"So... she rebels against you," Leia stated. "Do you need time apart?" she offered. 

"We're finally together, mom. We have to work this out." 

"I see. How come everyone else feels involved? Has she hurt someone again?" 

"No, she takes it out on me—" He immediately regretted saying that. "It's either that, or she gets really destructive, to the point of compromising our missions." He hastefully added, "but not as much, now." He hoped that would lessen the implication of what he had just said. 

"Maker son, that sounds absolutely terrible." She looked at him: were those bruises just below his collarbone, bitemarks? Was her son forever condemned to be abused? She nearly walked over to the dinner table to berate her daughter-in-law on the spot. She would next time they had a moment alone. 

"Enduring abuse is not a sign of strength," she finally told him. "You wouldn't let anyone else accept such a situation. I don't care how guilty you feel about your past, or how much you think you deserve it. She won't grow out of it unless she is forced to." 

He looked away from her and she saw his jaw clench. "Mom, you don't know how the Dark side works." 

There was a signal at the door, and he walked back to the table. She let him go; she'd said her piece. 

Poe was letting Johan Tiaan Jerjerrod in. The men clasped arms in recognition. They hadn't worked directly together yet; the Colonel doing more ground-work operations and training of young leaders, but he had a reputation for a no-nonsense, ethical attitude. It was those ethics that had made him join the Resistance instead of following his parent's path in the First Order. The irony of the ex-Resistance becoming an important branch of the ex-First Order was not lost on him, and now he was about to informally meet the Ex-Supreme Leader of what he had sworn to fight. 

The man came to attention and saluted General Solo, who surprised himself giving the proper response, granting the Colonel. permission to be at ease. They shook hands and sat back at the table; coffee — real coffee — and desert was offered. They discussed how best to manage the team that had now grown into a two-squad section. After a while the conversation turned to more immediate matters: Jo Jerjerrod had grown up on Tinnel IV. His family had been part of the Elite. They needed whatever information he knew about the head families of the planet. 

As they spoke, Ben realized what an asset this man would be to the team: he was a senior officer and his loyalties were all to Leia. He would be far less tolerant of all the drama that was undermining his close team. Putting Rey in Jerjerrod's squad appeared a reasonable scenario, he decided. 

**

"You're separating us," she stated. 

"We usually work in separate teams anyway. Jerjerrod's got more experience with ground-work." 

"You're moving me to the transport." 

"You're still sleeping on the Dragon. It's our home. The transport will be like an office. Take Finn with you." 

"But what if I..." 

"Rey. That's exactly why." 


	6. A Flow

Unexpectedly, she cried that night. 

She'd woken with a start, her nightmare having turned to something erotic. It was happening more often these nights. _So much power_ , she thought, and wondered why they needed so many people with them when they could probably do just as well as the _Dyad_. As she lay in Ben's arms, she was tempted to wake him to relieve the tension that had built during the dream, but she looked at his peaceful face and thought better of it; she was sure to become violent no matter what he did. For the tenth time this month, she wanted to go run outside, but they were back in space. She closed her eyes again. 

Gradually, an image of a great grasslands appeared before her, flowing winds rippling the grass like waves on an ocean, carrying an animal musk. She heard and felt a rumble when a great herd wooly, hoofed-and-horned beasts  topped the hill and slowed down. She turned around and saw a low wooden temple, draped in colorful banners and wind chimes. She heard a greeting: "Ah. You are together then." It was a benevolent voice. She couldn't walk but as she stared at the open structure, she saw a tall man spreading fresh hay in the stalls, dutifully. Her man. She heard his voice hum in her mind, repeating a peaceful mantra. 

The vision freed her and she snuggled closer to him, listening to his strong heart beat. She let herself cry softly and the ugly lust passed. 

***

Jo Jerjerrod took to his command easily, helped by Solo's delegation of powers to him. While re-tracing old family ties and like-minded friends of his childhood home, he understood the "other job" he had been recruited for: keeping Rey Solo's temper in check. A few training exercises had her blow her stack soon enough and for the first time in ages, Rey was curtly berated in front of her peers and not allowed to "walk it off". She would not participate in the next raid but would be constrained to "healing duties". 

Surprisingly, she accepted the dressing-down with grace. 

It was during this next raid that Finn discovered a way to Force-shadow them by letting fear turn their Force-shield into a cloak of Darkness: it was thin, and by its nature, hard to maintain for long, but damn useful as a stealth device. Finn had had a couple accidents when using the Dark side, hurting a teammate when he lost control of fire, so he'd been particularly nervous of using it on this raid. Not wanting to be found, he triggered the ability. It allowed them to sneak right past guards to the offices where their prey held their meeting, surprising and neutralizing them rapidly. 

Ben was impressed, it was another "No Death" raid. Then interrogation revealed that their reputation had “improved” to a more merciful one and had dampened the fear they needed to instill to cower the Slaver industry into submission. Once the information was extracted, the four top captains were executed, their decapitated bodies returned to their headquarters. It was a thin grey line they walked to balance fear and mercy. 

Only one was executed by Finn, the cold-blooded process making him ill; he preferred face to face combat, but only if stealth became impossible. Some were captured, but a few were executed by blaster squad, Ben managing to keep his bloodlust at bay, even as he debated "feeding" one to Rey. The idea fed other lusts in him and he was more than willing to give Rey her Kylo Ren that night. 

***

Their third force-sensitive find was immediately sent to Hux. 

_*Master Yoda, why are there no records of the Force being used for other things than to fight the other side?*_ Ben was upset. 

_*Pressing, the war was. It consumed everything. That you know already, young Solo.*_

Bolvuss Mearhaks was an older Gran they found quite by chance as they were re-supplying and visiting with their first foundling Ada on Coruscant. They were in the artist district of Sowo, Rey wanting to find some prints to decorate their quarters aboard the Dragon, when they felt his Force-signature. They followed it to a small arts shop, and immediately paid his drinking debts to take him with them once they spoke with him and saw his work. The Gran was a sculptor who could re-shape matter — even stone — into fascinating creations. His master had him make copies of his most popular pieces, but for the sake of variety he had a shelf of fantastical creatures and plants. Some pieces were abstracts that radiated emotions through their shapes alone; colors added even more depth to each piece. And, by the feel of it, most of this art was molded using Dark side abilities: its creator had suffered decades of war and loss. 

Hux was impressed with the old man's abilities, but a bit nonplussed as to what to do with him: learn or teach? He was the only Force-sensitive so far for the Arts School, but Ben explained that he would be sure to look out for any other Force-artists he could find. He was positively radiant with hope: here was a way to mitigate the Dark side to achieve balance. 

He was suddenly struck with insight about himself: his temper had been under better control when he would take the time to practice drawing or calligraphy. If the poems he was transcribing or illustrating were about the horrors of war, the effect was particularly calming. He looked at Rey: what expression would be best suited for her? 

***

His dream of a mythical temple of bison or bantha-like creatures became recurrent. Sometimes he was allowed to care for one of the beasts directly, grooming and shearing its wooly coat: it was a meditation. Progressively, a main beast made itself clearer with each iteration, its appearance changing and becoming more defined. It was a giant, as creatures went, but it was not one of the herd he had first associated it with. It had ochre plate-like horns or antlers, the plates running all down its forelimbs, which terminated into agile digits rather than hooves. The front of its body was covered in a red-brown beard that spread back over its neck in a rich mane. Its face was still unclear, except for eyes that seemed to shine as white dots in their dark sockets. "You will have to bring her with you," it told him, indicating a well-known figure standing a distance away. And then it was gone. 

He woke, at peace as he always did when he had the dream. He looked at the other half of his soul laying beside him, youthful face peaceful as well. He resisted the urge to check for the pellet, then got up to make stim-caf for the Crew. Chewbacca was piloting. Ben gave him a cup and sat with him in silence for a few minutes before Chewie finally spoke. 

"<You think we have enough info to take out this Efrroy Bowbry?>" 

"We just might. I hope we can wring his list of clients out of him. That's what we need most. After that, I'm not sure what we should do with him." 

"<If he survives interrogation.>" Chewie gave a light chuckle, followed by a silence; balance was walking a tightrope of Justice over the chasm of Terror that cowed their prey. The Qaid would be a suitable sacrifice to Rey's Darkness; he could also be a great example of the New Order's Justice. 

"Would a quick death be a mercy?" 

"<Depends whether he's redeemable.>" 

Indeed. Kylo Ren had been given the chance to atone for his deeds. He still was. He would be for the rest of his life. Of course, being Leia’s son and half of the Force Dyad had weighed in his favor. He suddenly wondered about wookie relationships. 

"Do wookies mate for life?" 

"<Aye, we do. I did, anyway.">

"You never talk about your mate, what was her name again?" Ben only had vague memories of his “aunt and his cousin". 

"<Mallatobuck. You were away for a long time, Solo,>" Ben startled, still unused to being called his father's name by Chewie, "<I went to see her a few months ago. We wookies are an... independant lot. At least compared to you humans. Could be due to the life-span.>" They lived generations longer than humans. "<I was thinking of visiting with my son on the next break. He might have come around by now. >" 

"Lumpy. Maker, that could be an awkward reunion." One he'd have to attend eventually. "How old is he now? A hundred? What does he do for a living?" 

"<He's got his own shipping company. All legit. Malla said his girlfriend looks to be ready, so maybe a mating ritual soon? I don't know.>" 

***

On Tinnel IV, Poe, Finn and Rey, accompanied by Jothan, were to meet their contact in a posh club in the capital Val Denn. Ben had been invited to come along, but decided against it: he was sure to be conspicuous, and never felt comfortable in crowds, so he would come only if called. 

The men looked Rey up and down: dressed in battle fatigues, she would look as conspicuous as the Dark Lord himself did. Poe and Finn suggested a fancy dress. Rey hadn't worn a dress since their wedding. She went out to find one, wishing she had Rose with her. With Rose she had gone to a few student parties, where she had worn dark natural fiber skin-tight pants and light tops, and relaxed and danced to music that beat to the rhythm of her own youth. It was an exhilarating experience after the harshness of Jakku and the austerity of her time in the Resistance; there had been few occasions for rejoicement, rare holidays. To be going out to dance tonight felt like just what she needed now. 

She found a mid-thigh, slinky sequin and tasseled number, low cut with thin straps. Mid-calf, low-heeled leather boots ensured confort, while a chain belt of silver rings encircled her tiny waist to complement the kit. She put up her hair and traced her eyes with black kohl. Save for the scarf and silver hoop earrings, all of it was black. When she came out of their cabin there was a stunned silence before Ben said, "ok, I guess I'm coming" that prompted a sigh of relief from the other guys. 

They found him a pair of black slacks and a dark blue patterned shirt under a simple leather vest. His hair had grown out enough to frame his face in soft darkness. He shaved for the first time in weeks, giving him a boyish look. Poe and Finn had their own garb, similar to the one Ben was sporting; Jothan wore a high-necked red-and-brown embroidered tunic over silk straight slacks that was closer to the local customary gear. Chewie would stay behind with the ship; there was no way to disguise him and he hated loud music. 

As important as their rendez-vous was, they needed to relax and be seen as ordinary people before Jothan's old friend would trust them. To most of them, it would be harder than work. They started their evening with a nice dinner in a hip restaurant, and for a moment it felt to Ben as if he and Rey were on an actual date, accompanied by friends. The wine helped untie some of his knots. Jothan spoke of his youth at the academy here, Finn spoke of his nights off with Rose and Rey on board _The Promise_. Poe spoke of Jannah, and of what he thought she might need. 

Ben listened mostly. The "parties" his Knights of Ren would improvise after a raid were not something he would talk about; he had been pressured into partaking in the first one, not knowing what it was really about. That had been it for him, he never participated again. They had taunted him for years after that, even going so far as to find him boys or various creatures to tease him, until he beat Ap'lek to a pulp and they shut up about it. State official and ceremonial diners in the First Order had been no better, when a different kind of pressure had been on him: generals' daughters or Senators' wives vying for his attention. He'd learned much, that was for sure, but the encounters had always left him feeling empty and lonelier than before. 

After discovering what heartbreak was, he understood that Kylo Ren was either a pawn or a prize to them, and when Snoke started to mock him, he'd decided on celibacy. 

Until Rey had gifted him with her trust. 

Rey had some memories of yearly festivities on Jakku, when Plutt decided to feed all of them for the occasion and there had been music and liquor and she had danced and danced. She remembered the few boys she had messed around with — struggled really — sweaty and playing along that the lies they'd tell her about leaving the planet together for some far away paradise would come true if only she let him go a little farther. She had managed to push them off before anything too risky happened — even as she cried with the frustration of having to resist and guard herself because... _girl_. She'd seen other girls get pregnant and then their lives had become a living _Hell_. 

To think she had finally given it all up to the Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, and then that he had in turn given up the Ren and the title for her was an irony on a level so cosmic only the Force could begin to explain it. 

Sometimes the memory of a deal Plutt had cut with a visitor wormed its way up to the surface, quickly pushed down again. It was probably her first use of the Force — and her first kill. Plutt had never offered her again, but the seed of Darkness had been planted. It fueled her fire to do what they were doing now. 

In the beginning, Ben and her had explored those memories, their understanding reaching the furthest corners of their souls. Now, even in the presence of friends, they stuck to the more pleasant memories. They spoke of what the future might bring them, if ever there was such a time as after they had finished their mission. 

*

When dinner was done, they left for the club. They were early, and that suited Rey just fine; she immediately made for the dance floor. With the boys there she felt safe, she had the floor to herself and her low boots were comfortable. The music had a simple beat, something she could warm up to, and she started stepping around to get a rhythm and loosen her arms and hips. By the end of the second song the DJ had understood what she was about and put something on for her. She closed her eyes. 

Poe and Finn turned to look at Ben who had never seen this side of his wife before. 

Rey could _dance_ . She had rhythm, she had balance, she was supple but most importantly, she had _abandon_ . She picked up on the song's nuances and meaning and let its story take her where it wanted. Some of the moves she did resembled the forms they practiced in training and he was reminded why they were called martial _arts_. He understood why she was so good in combat, he felt the same way about it: it was a _flow_. He looked at Finn, who nodded in response, eyes shining. He looked around the room. Others could see it too. When the song ended, she came back to them, out of breath and radiant. She tucked herself in his arms and he felt truly blessed to have found her. He whispered as much in her ear and she smiled and kissed him. A dozen faces turned away and the air of the room changed a bit, but it was better they knew right away. 

Jo's contact arrived, and they moved to a quieter area. Xost Bunn was a Falleen who had flunked out of college, but had found “business” opportunities while there. Mostly a spice dealer, he was not greedy, so bigger runners tolerated him. They also called on him for the "lighter stuff" on big nights. While he liked a good party, Bunn didn't like hurting people. His moral compass would swing wildly from time to time, but it always came back to true North. He would find where Efrroy Bowbry's special services would next be required for them. 

The night's beat was picking up. Finn gave Rey a look and they went back to the dance floor. The place was filling up. Poe poked Ben in the ribs: "You're gonna have to get up there and earn your keep tonight, I think", he shouted. Ben looked stricken, Poe shook his head: "Look at the other guys: everyone's got their style, just stay on beat, don't Force-choke anyone and you'll be fine." He signed to Jo: _we'll be back_ , and pushed Ben out of his comfort zone. 

At first, he awkwardly copied what Poe and Finn were doing, and when they bumped into each other and laughed, he laughed too. His laugh was magical and Rey turned to him immediately; she adapted her moves to fit with theirs, and soon, they had found a pleasant groove. Then the music changed, couples came on, and it was a different style, one Ben actually remembered from those long ago official soirées in the First Order. A senator's wife had taught him some dance steps, and he started to remember them. 

She'd taught him many other things as well and he hadn't forgotten those either. 

He placed Rey's left hand just below his right shoulder as he cradled her waist, took her right hand in his and whispered: "Follow my lead" in her ear as he opened his mind to her. He walked her through the basics step, warming up, and then told her to close her eyes and just flow with him. Poe and Finn walked back to Joe and Xost, keeping an eye on their friends; they were out of their depth here, but Xost knew a bit so he made for the floor in turn and found a partner. 

Rey felt like a butterfly floating on a cloud. They would definitely be doing this again. Ben agreed: there had to be more to life than work, studies, meals and sleep. And sex. Although sex was in its own class. Of course, there was always the "killing bad people'' part, but this dance was much more rewarding. After a couple songs, Xost proposed an exchange of partners, as was customary, and Rey had to adapt quickly, not having a link with him. Ben looked at the pleasant looking stranger before him, took a deep breath, and overcame his shyness yet again. 

“You know this music?” Rey’s partner asked. Xost was thin for a Falleen, but he had the long, thick top-knot and prominent ridges on his skull and down his backbone his species was known for. He exuded pheromones and Rey surprised herself feeling the beginning of arousal. 

“No, what is it?” It sounded ancient and yet very present, filled with the age-old longing of unrequited love. The music itself was pleasant. The dance, however, a two-person ballet that demanded balance and energy, was a pleasure on a level she had never known before… until she had met Ben Solo. 

“It has many names. Here in the Tinnel system it’s called "the Tangero". You pick it up wonderfully well, it’s a pleasure to dance with you, young woman. That will be very useful later on.”

A few more sets, a few more dance partners later, and the music changed again to a more popular beat before the Dyad had a chance to dance together again. They walked back to join the others at their table. "Wow! That was... that was something I did not expect to see from K-R," exclaimed Poe, astonished. "K-R" was a moniker they sometimes used in public to recall past experiences or when his mood changed to his darker self. 

"I haven't danced like that in years," admitted Ben. "But, you know, politics, intrigue, social networking. I'm sure your command staff knows all about balls and conventions, Old Republic, or New." 

"Yeah, I haven't been much to those. I should, I guess. Leia's been inviting a few of us to go with her on these things." 

Ben thought for a second before saying: "I guess I can show you the basics. I can show anyone who wants to learn." He looked at the three accompanying him. "Maybe even Chewie," he added, and they all laughed at that image. 

Rey excused herself to go make water. Ben followed her soon after, the drink having its effect. 

When he was done, the WC door opened and Rey walked in. "Rey, this is the men's room—" he started. 

She looked at him with a wicked smile: "Better I should find you in here, then. I saw you dance with those other girls." She licked her lips. 

Ben suddenly felt a little flattered, was she… jealous? "Well, they had more experience..." 

She pushed him into one of the stalls. Or rather he let himself be pushed into a stall, and she locked the door. They heard a muffled laugh come from the one beside them, followed by the sound of wet kisses. 

_This is what it's like to be in your twenties_ , he thought, when she pulled his head down for a hungry kiss, then reached to undo his trousers. He lifted her dress and picked her up effortlessly so she could straddle him, and as she guided him in he briefly hated Snoke all over again. He drove into her hard, not caring when the outside door opened and let in the music's beat for a moment before shutting again. The stall beside them emptied then filled again and he felt himself alive and part of this world. She was rubbing herself and he climaxed almost as soon as she did, barely holding them up while trying to keep quiet to maintain a semblance of dignity. She nipped his lip and he let her climb down, winded and laughing softly. 

They cleaned themselves up and made it back to the group. Only Poe was left, giving them a knowing look, and at least Rey had the grace to blush a little while he was sure he had a foolish grin he could hardly repress. 

"I can't take you guys anywhere," Poe concluded.


	7. Taking the Lead

"Your wife has attracted some attention." Ben listened to Jerjerrod's debrief after a conversation with Bunn. Two days had passed since their initial contact at the dance club. "Something about her 'aura'. How old is she?" 

"Twenty-two? Hard to know, there's no records. Why? Who's attention?"

"Bowbry's. Where is she now ?" 

Ben felt a weight hit the pit of his stomach. "In town. She wanted to get something, some clothing. Alone." _Alone_.

"Bad timing. I'll sent some troops to find her."

Ben got up, went outside to find Finn, Poe and Chewie practicing target-shooting with their blasters. He spoke with Finn and they took off on a speeder, Finn piloting while Ben sought Rey with the Force. He got only a very dull feedback. She was hiding from him.

*

Rey was trying the red one on when the girl spoke to her. "Miss, there's someone here to see you? Says he's a friend?"

She sighed; couldn't she have any time alone? She wanted this kit to be a surprise.

The man who nodded at her when she stepped out was a total stranger. He gave her a smile of recognition, then spoke: "We danced together the other night. My name is Erron."

 _Oh?_ She couldn't place him. He looked handsome enough, in an ordinary way. Blonde and blue-eyed and tall, with a chiseled jaw and all that. "You were with the party sitting with Xost", he added.

"What if I was?" If this man knew Bunn, he could be a interesting contact. 

"I saw you come in here, I just had to see you again. You...you moved me." His eyes shone. "You moved a few other people as well. Important people."

"That's... flattering. I barely know a few steps. Thank you ?"

"My friends and I would invite you to a private _soirée_. I could teach you a few more steps, if you want. You have an aura about you, it's beautiful."

Important friends at a private party. Interested in a beautiful woman. After seeing her with Xost. _This could be the break we're looking for._

She discreetly slipped off her wedding band. "I would love to meet your friends. My name is ... Rose." She gave him her sweetest smile, letting some of the Dark emanate from her. He breathed her in, "What about your boyfriend? Husband? Won't he worry?"

"Oh, he's not _my_ husband. We're just close friends when we meet." Her heart gave a little twinge at the lie, but it would work. 

"My studio is close by, why don't you come for a cup of caf?"

"Sure. I have some free time." She took the dress, dropped the ring into the bag, and followed him out. 

It was a large, well-lit two-room studio, impersonal and clean. No one actually lived here, she surmised. There was a counter and sink for some drinks, there was a music system and some fancy lighting, mirrors on the wall. He made some caf and put on some music, going on about his favorite composer. She relaxed. She was starting to like this style of music, it told stories of passionate —  if unrequited —  love, but she had watched the other couples on the dance floor and something about the elegance of it moved her. The young man moved to the wooden floor and executed a few steps while she drank her caf sitting on a low couch. 

He invited her to join him, and they started to dance. He made her whirl and whirl around him, showing her new steps and some flourishes, encouraging her, flattering her, and she felt dizzy with the spinning and laughter, until her sight grew dim, and she felt herself fall softly to the floor. The music faded. Her last thought was to open her link to Ben for a moment before everything faded to black. 

*

Solo made Finn stop the glider when he felt her clearly again, then they hurried, homing in on her Force-signature as it faded. They were near enough to park and continue on foot, and they split and ran at angles to try and triangulate her position. Her signature suddenly moved and she was quickly moving far away again. They ran together towards where they could feel her last signal. She'd was gone, she'd been caught. 

Ben was distraught. Finn was agitated. They called the Crew over comms to join them so they could search the area. They walked into the shops, inquiring about her, moving closer to her last felt position. Ben kept his mind open, his heart beating wildly. As long as he felt her Light, he had hope. 

"Whoever took her used a drug on her. She's unconscious."

Poe Dameron nodded. He had come with only two of Joe's men. Joe himself had stayed behind, contacting Xost again. "Ben, we have to stay discreet or we'll blow our cover," he cautioned his friend. "Unless you know exactly where to look, go back to the glider. Keep your Force-comm or whatever you call it open. Let us ask around." Ben found a bench and let himself fall into a meditative state. 

In his mind, he finally saw a bright presence linger somewhere east of him, a floor up, before it bled into a line that stretched before fading completely. He got up and followed it like a hound follows a scent. He found the door, Finn coming behind him half a minute later. They climbed the stairs quickly and made it to the door. It was locked. "Sense for traps," warned Finn, then they forced it open. There was no one.

Walking around the little studio, he got a feeling of the space. The music player was still warm, the music of that style she had just discovered. There were a couple cups of caf in the sink, rinsed but not washed, so he picked them up to analyse whatever might still be attached to them. The closed off room was empty, the bed neatly made and clean. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then Finn called him.

Under the little couch was a bio-plast bag with a red dress in it. It was new, with the identification of the shop where it had been bought. There was something else in the bag, Ben shook it into his hand and when it tumbled into his palm he made a small whimper that made Finn turn towards him and let out a soft curse. It was Rey’s wedding band, confirming her presence beyond any doubt, and the realization was like a stab in Ben’s heart. 

Ben took a breath of the main room. Apart from the smell of caf, there was no smell of sweat, no scent of fear. She had come willingly and had not been physically harmed before falling unconscious and being moved to who knows where.

Stepping out of the appartement, they saw an old man at the end of the hall. He shook his head and started to close his door again. Kylo Ren almost blasted the door off its hinges. Instead, Ben took some credits out of his pocket and showed them to the old man. The door opened again. "Finn, get Poe and bring him here. Then go to that shop and find out what you can." Finn took off.

Ben looked at the tired old man. "She came here for the music, I think."

The man nodded: "Yeah there was music. And laughing. There always is." Ben felt a pang in his heart. 

"Young fools" the old man added wistfully, remembering something from his past. 

"Can you give me a description of the man who lives here?" 

"Lives above his means, some kind of dandy. Always wrangling his way out of debt. I don't think he really lives here. Calls himself Kaine." Then he gave Ben a physical description. 

Poe joined him soon enough and they combed the place for more clues: clothing, hair, a toothbrush, anything. The place was almost spotless. They picked up what they could in a container and left. They noted the address before going back to the glider. Ben wanted to go to the shop but Poe stopped him: he had made himself visible enough already. If it came out that whoever had her had Kylo Ren's wife, the Dragon Lady that was disrupting the slave trade across three systems... 

Finn came back with a little information: a description of the man that matched the one given by the neighbour. 

They left the troopers behind to watch the appartement, and made their way back home to the Dragon. They gave Joe what they found and he made some calls. 

"<I'm not sure who to be more scared for: her or her captors.>" Ben tried to smile at Chewie's jest. Rey had immense strength. All they could do was wait. 

****

Rey floated in and out of consciousness. She felt heavy, and reached for the Force. She kept still and listened around her. There was someone in this room with her. She felt the Force inside her and analyzed her body for injury: there was a bruise on her shoulder where she had been banged on something. She felt for the chemical that had stoned her and she gathered the remnants of it, pushing it out of her body by her sweat glands. She would have to remember the trick and teach it to the others. 

They did not know who they held, evidently, or she would either be dead or certainly not allowed to come out of a drugged state. They had caught the Dragon. She could blow the whole place up immediately. Set it on fire.

Or she could play the victim, and let them take her right to the head of this organization. She made a packet of her thoughts: _*I'm ok. Give me some time.*_

The answer came after a few beats, anxious and furious all at once: *Damn! _Okay.*_ She opened her eyes and looked around her cautiously: she was in darkened room, or it was night. She was on some couch, there was a holoscreen, but it was turned off. There was some background music, some sappy style she didn't care for. A lamp was lit somewhere behind her. 

She steeled herself and groaned sleepily. Whoever was in here with her moved nearer. She opened and closed her eyes slowly, rolling them like she was still drugged. Then they snapped open. The person with her was Keelcali Tilhod. "Good. You're awake. Do you have a name?" The woman's expression warned her: they did not know each other. "Rose."

A small smile. Keelcali helped her up. "Good. Here's some water." It was Rey's turn to frown. The slave-woman gave an impatient sigh, then took a gulp before handing her the glass, and Rey accepted it. It was cool. "Where am I?"

"You're my guest." And Rey felt the irony of those words just as the background muted suddenly. Ben appeared, froze still. 

"Why am I here?"

"You've attracted attention. You've intrigued someone, someone powerful."

She put her hand to her forehead. "That's what that guy...Erron? said. Who can be powerful enough to take me like this?"

"Listen, girl. This is the world we live in: you are an ordinary girl. Someone wants you, someone I know." Rey understood who she meant: _Bowbry_. "You can play along, or you can disappear at the bottom of a salt mine. The choice is yours. Are you game?" Rey nodded. "I will help you get ready." A pause, then a low whisper: "Get _him_ out of here." Rey stole a glance towards her husband, looking him in the eye * _Check back later?*_ He reluctantly faded away. 

***

Kylo Ren grabbed his Ren saber and destroyed some tree at the periphery of where the ship was landed, until Chewie yelled at him to stop and come back inside.

"<Get a hold of yourself! You're the only person living in the Galaxy to have a lightsaber like that! You'll give us all away!>" Chewie was furious. "<Give that thing to me right now.>"

Ben handed it over. The men in the lounge all looked as upset as he was. He sat with them and told them what he had seen and heard through the Bond. Joe shared what he had: the studio was a rental, to the name of some Jon Zmith, yet another alias. They were checking the elements Ben and Poe had collected with the local authorities, though he had had to dig around a bit to find people he could trust. A drug had been used on Rey, a powerful one at that. Xost was pressuring his contacts to find out where and when the "party" would happen. 

"Rey wants to ... serve as bait. She wants time to get closer to the Qaid." Ben announced. Various expressions stared back at him: some dismay, some horror, some hesitant, trying to calculate the odds. 

Joe spoke at last: "You say that the woman with her — Tilhod? —  is a Force-user? Can you trust her?" Ben thought of what they had picked up in the slaver-woman's mind: the motivation for revenge against Efrroy Bowbry. He shared that, remembering the woman's other abilities with apprehension. What if she wiped Rey's memory from her and disappeared? What if she exposed them once she was rid of her enemy? He shuddered. He got up and paced again. Finn got up and started pacing as well.

Joe looked at them both. "Kriff", he said, "I want a guard-duty roster in ten minutes." That would organize and force some of them to get some sleep. "Finn, with me." They left for the other ship, leaving Poe and Chewie and Ben to recuperate and focus on what was within their range of actions. Not much more for now. 


	8. Her Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning : the next chapters take Rey down a very dark path.

"So," Keelcali Tilhod told her, "you stand a chance to make a fair bit of credits if you collaborate. We know you student types: always broke, always willing to try new things."

Rey listened intently. Every sentence was an instruction. 

"My name is Kali. We will get you dressed in appropriate clothing for the evening. You will have a nice leather collar with a tag on it: you can unfasten it, but I suggest you keep it, it will please the people who requested your presence." 

An assortment of clothing was brought in: tiny dresses, too-short high-waisted shorts, long transparent things that covered everything while hiding nothing. Some were gaudy in the extreme, others cut in classic style that flowed like silk. "Choose your costume." Rey looked at the shorts, but Keelcali informed her those came without a top. She chose a tiny dress. At least it was opaque. When she was presented with shoes, she worried: they were impossibly high heeled — she could hardly stand in them. "How am I supposed to walk in those?"

"They're not for walking. Let me see your feet. Ah, we'll need a pedicure, manicure too. You should take better care of yourself: you'd fetch a higher price."

"Kali... I have other qualities." The woman looked at her, dubious. 

Rey let some of the Dark emanate from her; it was something that she'd noticed would change the atmosphere of a roomful of people when she let anger roll off her like waves.

The woman made a low whistle. "That'll do it. Still need the makeup and baubles to drag you down. Eat. Rest. We work in twelve hours."

"Where?" 

The older woman hesitated before saying: "At the Eppenstin estate." 

**

" _Shit_." Kylo Ren swore. Eppenstin was one of his first murders that had started the transfiguration of the First Order. The officer had been a bumbling fool, always trying to arrange some benefit for himself and his numerous mistresses. Killing him had been most satisfactory, but the man, repulsive as he had been, had had family. Had they targeted Rey as Kylo's wife? Was this a vendetta? It was hard to know how many of his identities had been linked: Ben Solo, Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader, the _Dragon's_ mate. 

Wearing the Ren mask had protected him for years, but keeping Rey's scar had marked him distinctly. He loved that scar, it was how the Light had come in. Now he had to get rid of it. 

He called Joe, shared that little info with him, to see if it could get confirmed with Bunn. Joe had information of his own: they had tracked down the man Erron/Kaine/Jon Zmith. Poe was on his way to intercept him with a couple troopers. No, Ben had to wait for them to come back. No, Ben would not be interrogating the man himself. At first. 

He had to get a message to Hux and Leia. If they linked the Eppenstin family to a network of Slavers, they would break apart a whole class of corrupt politics that was a major influence in four systems. All Rey had to do was climb into some laps until she ended up in the Patriarch's. She could probably do it. She could endure quite a bit of pain when she wanted to. And through the Bond, Ben would be privy to all of it. He nearly threw up at the thought. He would rather blow up the entire planet than feel that. 

**

"Rose, I have a few tricks I would share with you." Kali joined her after an impromptu dance lesson with some older gentleman. 

"We are going to talk about what you can do to make things interesting." * _While I teach you a trick I figured out a few years ago,_ * she voiced in her head.

Rey nodded.

"Make sure to keep your head bowed, but read their faces: some like a shy girl, some like a hot girl. You have to give them what they want." * _Here is how you wipe their memories. Now here is how you give them new ones. It only works if you are in private, so you have to convince them to get you alone.*_

The older woman shared knowledge with Rey. It was a twisted version of the Jedi Mind Trick: straight from the Dark side. 

"Things can go quickly, especially for you: you have that aura about you — don't be coy, you know you have it — and that makes you special. It all depends on what you allow to be done to you. The people here are influential. If they remember you fondly, you might find it helps you once you have your degree. Just like hundreds of other girls. Some of the things they will want will cause you... discomfort. Don't panic."

 _*Whatever you do, don't take the drugs. Last bit of advice: the higher up the rungs you get, the more things get violent. You will have to choose between sex and murder.*_ That last one hit Rey like a gut-punch. It was all Darkness from here on out. 

"Now you are going to make a 'friend' before you dress up." And Kali walked to the door, opened it and beckoned a frightened girl to walk in. 

_*Ben, I love you and you are absolutely the only man I will ever want in my life. I suggest you tune out for the next couple hours.*_

**

Ben picked up the packet and remained frozen in place for a few minutes before Poe called to him to get his attention again. 

"Kriff man, you're about to fall over. Go get some rest," Poe offered, looking at the undecipherable expression on his friend's face. Exhaustion was the only emotion he could really read. Then Finn walked in, and the two Force-sensitives shared a look that told another story. 

"Ah man, I wish I could help you. I'm not nearly as connected to her as you are, thank the _Maker_ for that. Maybe meditate?"

Meditate. He would go to the Temple in the grasslands. 

In the cabin he shared with his better half, he sat down cross-legged on the meditation mat. He had never deliberately sought the Dream before, but he had to put his mind somewhere safe from Rey's Darkness, or go mad. 

He was lucky: he slipped into the meditation trance relatively easily. 

Ben imagined himself walking through those rolling hills he had come to like. He couldn't see the temple yet. The sky was roiling with clouds, but the sun was bright where it pierced through. It was windy. Anakin met him on the way there. _*He's called "The Bendu".*_

_*Who?*_

_*The being you have been meeting in this place.*_

_*What about him?*_ Ben was glad for the distraction. He was feeling a pull on the Bond, a pull to the Dark, like a vortex. 

_*He's ancient. He's a Force user - some call him an Entity - and he's neutral.*_

_*Neutral?*_

_*He refused to choose sides : Jedi or Sith. He just... is.*_

Ben slowed his pace, he could start to make out the temple on the horizon. He wasn't sure he was ready to meet a mythical being in his current mindset. He just wanted to muck out some stalls, and maybe brush out one of the great beasts' woolly coat. A few kilometres away from him, the Light of his life was fully embracing the Darkness. He stumbled, then picked up the pace. Anakin faded away. 

He ran the rest of the way. 

**

They had Rey’s kidnapper tied to a chair in the cargo bay One. Finn responded quietly to Poe inquiry outside the bay door. "I haven't done interrogations yet. I don't want to risk it."

"Well, Ben's in no state to do it, so you have to."

"I'll kill him if I do it." Poe saw something in Finn's eye. He relented. 

"The Force... us ‘ordinary people’ see it like it's some magic or something. It's that hard to control, is it?"

"You saw how I burned that guy." He’d been more understanding of Rey since then. "We can soften him up for Ben, though."

They walked into the bay, kicked their prisoner awake. Poe spoke:

"We have three names for you: Erron, Jon, and Kaine. Which one are you?"

"Erron, to my friends."

"Do you know why you're here, Erron?"

"Debts? Retribution? Justice? There's plenty to choose from." 

"We're the step before Justice. You took a girl yesterday. Do you know who she is?"

"The funny brunette? Just a girl. She came willingly."

"You drugged her. That's not willingly"

"Right. I don't usually do that. She was worth a lot of money to someone, I didn't take any chances."

"You're going to tell us who."

"If you're Justice, you know I can't tell you that. I'd regret it more than you can punish me for my supposed 'crimes'."

The men looked at each other, each gauging the other in turn. Then Poe said: "Have you heard of the _Dragon_?"

Erron furrowed his brow for a second, then the blood slowly drained from his face. 

"In the other room is the Dragon's _mate_ . You either talk to us, or you talk to _him_."

**

Rey was quite enjoying herself, truth be told. She had crooned her way in between the girl's legs and was doing something to her that had only ever been done to herself. It was like stepping through the looking-glass. If this was how the evening went, it wouldn't be so bad. Then the door opened, and a couple of men walked in, and it was harder to keep her cool. Of course, this wasn't in the privacy of her own fantasies. She was here to put on a show. 

She had a couple things to consider: Ben was the jealous type. Of course, in this situation, it was perfectly understandable. She had an inkling of where his limits were, and she was certain he already knew exactly where she was being held. He could come crashing in at any moment, and with his power, he'd burn his way through brick and mortar to get to her.

This would abruptly end their mission. Worse, it would kill a few people but blow their cover in all of the four systems involved. All the past months' hard work.

So, she had to keep him from going over the edge and ensure her "integrity". She looked at the beautiful, breathless girl beneath her, kissed her deeply one last time, then throttled her. 

There were gasps behind her and movement before the door opened and shut. One of the men left, swearing. Kali came back in. She had made a choice.

**

Ben dropped the pitchfork and grabbed the frame to keep his balance. That spike of emotion had punched through and it was as malevolent as he had always feared. Worse, it was almost immediately cooled and controlled. Then it was gone, and he was left with a dirty feeling, like an oil slick in a creek, clinging to stones that breach the surface. 

_Oh Maker, please help me,_ he called. 

_*What do you need help for?*_ It was the voice of the being that inhabited this place. A rich, resonant voice. He looked around, then stepped outside to find its owner. The Great Beast was there, as if it had coalesced suddenly into existence. He saw its face, finally. Prominent, furry brows, wide nose, large, thick-lipped mouth buried in a red-brown beard. Deep-set eyes, cloudy white, but not blind. It was the _Bendu_. Ben immediately bent to one knee and waited.

"She is not with you." It was not a question. The Bendu dipped into Ben's mind, sniffed over the Bond to find Rey. It was but a moment. "Ah. You seek balance." 

"We do." Ben was able to keep feelings of betrayal and embarrassment and wounded pride at bay. This creature knew them well enough. And that left only heartbreak. 

**

The girl was not dead, not quite. Kali spoke to Rey’s mind: _*I expected you to make that choice... later. I will save the girl, for you. But now, you must trick our witness here into thinking he’s had a good time. Do it quickly.*_

Rey turned to the sole man left in the room and gave him a sweet smile, then she slipped into his mind. 

Rey imagined letting the man touch her while Kali picked up the unconscious girl, — aiding herself with the Force — wrapped her in a silken sheet, and took her outside the room. 

The Scavenger knew how to reuse broken things, and rummaging through the lecher’s mind taught her things way outside her experience with Ben Solo. She picked a few choice memories of similar setups — there were enough to make her angry — Hacked them together, and pasted her face onto the hapless victims that had laid where she now lay. 

She found and stroked the man’s pleasure centers as well, and soon enough, she saw and heard him grunt in pleasure and soil himself. 

It was disgusting. 

It was exhilarating. 

She released his mind just as a short, stocky — guard? Client? - came in. He went straight to the tall man who was coming to and swaying on his feet, finding and sitting on a chair, swearing softly. 

“Whoa. She’s a _hungry_ one,” he told the stocky man. 

“We’ll put her in with the Domix, then.” 

Kali walked back in, took stock of the situation, nodded and declared helping ‘Rose’ get cleaned up for her later work. The men left, speculating and taking bets on their new Domix’s performances for the upcoming job.

**

“I look at you, Ben Solo, you are already in balance.” The Bendu spoke in that low voice that made Ben’s chest resonate with each word. 

“Why does it hurt, then, why does it feel like I’m being torn apart? I thought I was done with that!” Ben’s voice rose as he spoke the words. 

“How long were you a Jedi, before you became Jedi-Killer?”

“Ten years. Then I broke and served Snoke for six years.”

“Until the Scavenger found you.”

“ _I_ found _her_.” The remembered excitement of that day made his heart bound: from his first sight of her on Takonada to his last one as she ran away into the snow- and flame-engulfed forest on Starkiller base, the tear in his heart now impressed onto his face. 

Then he remembered the abject despair that had followed. The grief of his father’s murder that had not freed him. The realization he had traded one human bond for another when he had touched the Scavenger’s soul. 

‘ _You’re not alone,_ ’ he had told her, only days later. 

He had hidden his feelings then, even from himself. 

“She found you,” the Bendu repeated. 

_Neither are you,_ she had answered. And he had not believed her. 

**

“Efrroy Bowbry!” the blond and bloodied man spat on the floor. 

A cracked rib, two broken fingers, and the sight of the Ren lightsaber had broken him. This sort had no resistance to pain. 

A promise of relocation on Coruscant had also granted one of their crew a place at tonight’s event as an extra guard. 

Poe looked at Finn: “You think you can have just a peek?”

Finn considered: “There is something I can try.” 

The Light-warrior put his hand on the dandy’s heart and felt for the Force inside him. It was best he didn’t introduce the “new guy” looking like he’d been beaten into it.

Healing was an... _intimate_ process. As soon as the man felt the relief of pain surge through his body he became very grateful… and let his barriers down. 

Finn saw the faces of everyone this Zmith has had dealings with… including some rather well-dressed ones. Politicians. Industry magnates. Some of them were known by name. Others had only been glimpsed at. He saw an unconscious Rey and credits changings hands. 

He pulled out, reaching his limit. 

“I guess I’m the one on thug duty tonight,” he told Poe. “I saw some interesting faces.”

**

“Get out of that dress. It’s leather for you tonight.” Kali took Rey to another room, one floor up from the one she had woken into. 

The dressing room was wallpapered in velvet red striped with creamy white, and after looking at the panoply of kits on display, the Dragon-woman found exactly what she needed.

It was a black and dark grey combination of leather and silk open-front tunic, bodice and high-topped leather boots.

It was the Dark Rey’s costume. 

**

“You thought balance would insulate you from pain.” The God-like being towered over him, benevolence and patience incarnate. 

“I can take pain,” he answered, _I deserve pain,_ he thought. “But I can’t take _her_ pain.” 

The Bendu looked at the tangled knot of emotions still kneeling before him. 

“Is she in pain now? No. You’re afraid of her, of her own Darkness. It makes you doubt the validity of your mission. Of your atonement.”

“What if she turns?” Ben Solo whispered. 

“Have you?” 

_Have I?_ It was a shocking, sobering realization. He had _not_ given up the Dark. He had accepted the Light. 

Just as Rey accepted the Darkness. She’d had to: to survive, to accept _him_ ; to accept Kylo Ren. He understood something else. 

“I am jealous,” he stated, accepting the humiliation of that simple fact.

“The Jedi were arrogant. The Sith were jealous. There _is_ emotion, Ben Solo. When she comes home, you will heal her and grant her forgiveness.” 

“I will.” 

They were silent for a moment. The Bendu pointed a huge dark index towards the roofed stable in the field of long flowing grassland. “You can continue your meditation during her trial.”

The Last Knight of Ren walked back to the Temple, picked up a shovel, and mucked out a box. 


	9. The Eppenstin Estate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t set fire to anything, son.” Leia’s voice was soft, “You know Rey can handle herself now.”
> 
> “I’m just as worried she’ll be the one setting things on fire, mom.” He heard Poe hiss beside him. Chewie let out a low whine. 
> 
> Kayda Ordo broke in: “If you’re all done spooking yourselves here, I’ll send Lieutenant Mitaka to you to pave your way into the estate. Get yourself some nice clothes, Kylo Ren.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark Rey is alive... and frightening even to me!

The Scavenger let Dark currents travel her body. They had given her another “friend” to play with, and a choice of toys for their games. Kali had warned her:

_*You may be alone with him in this room, but there are plenty of eyeholes. You can’t fake this one. And judging by the Darkness coming off you, you don’t want to.*_

Rey played games with Kylo Ren, but this was something else. The kind of games she gleaned from this man’s mind left marks. 

She was breathing hard, revulsion and anticipation churning in equal parts within her. 

The man before her looked like any one of the guards. He was tied up and half-naked, blindfolded and kneeling before her. 

_This is just a show_ , she thought to herself, _he’s held the whip himself; now he’s being punished._

_Or rewarded?_

The first slash told her what she needed to know. Somewhere in his mind, being hurt had become preferable to being ignored. 

He was being rewarded. 

It was a fine line to walk, between pleasure and pain, swerving and skidding between one state and the other, but the Force-sensitive Rey could feel her client’s every sensation, and once she got past the nausea of his preferred pleasures, she brought him to a - judging by his contortions - fantastic orgasm. 

All without letting him lay a hand on her. Projecting his own memories back to him had been the trick. She did have to touch him - to choke him specifically - but what she did with her gloved hand was not at all what he thought he was choking on, and Rey endured the filthy sensation of this wretched man licking and sucking her fingers and palm while she pinched his nose shut, smothering him within seconds of blacking out. 

The _Power_ she wielded was maddening. 

She was in a sweat, shivering and hot at the same time, the Darkness an undertow dragging her into a maroon tide. She wanted her Dragon but he was very much out of reach and only blood would satisfy her now. She kicked the man sprawled in his spend on the floor. 

“Get out,” she said in a low growl. “Get him out. Or I’ll kill him,” she told her unseen audience. 

Men rushed in to get their mate, most not looking at her. One did; she lashed out at him with the short switch she held, hard enough to mark him over his clothes. She was seething, filled with her fury. 

Kali walked in. 

She gave Rey a hard look, and Rey reddened in shame. It took several minutes to calm her breathing while the Slave-woman helped her out of her sweat-slick garments. 

“Mistress Seka will be hard-put to compete with _you_ ,” she finally commented. “You’re a natural at this,” and the compliment hit Rey like a gut-punch. 

At any moment during this little “training session” she could have just sat on this twisted man and taken her pleasure. Only her love for her husband had restrained her. 

***

Finn brought the Ren Saber back to Solo’s cabin, seeing him still in his meditative trance. He was breathing hard, though, and even if his perception of them was faint, he could tell immense willpower was being expended to endure the terrible things that were happening to the Dyad. 

He walked back out to get ready for his part in the operation, Poe and Chewie watching his grim expression and matching it with their own. He tried to lighten up; they worried Rey would be hurt, but had no idea of the depth the wounds she was willingly accepting could reach… and how they could fester. 

They had saved Ben Solo and welcomed him back into the Light. 

Now they could very well lose Rey Solo to the Darkness. 

Finn looked at the blond dandy still sitting in the interrogation chair, drinking water Poe had offered him. It took everything he had not to set the stupid man on _fire_. 

“Get ready,” he told him. “I don’t want to be too late.”

*

“Yeah, he just wants the job for the evening, but if you like him, he might want to stay on.” Erron told the security chief.

“Tell me again why you brought him to us yourself” the chief, a short, stocky, older man of maybe fifty standard years looked at the too-pretty man who was known as a “dancer recruiter”... dubiously. Security was not something he was known for.

“Like I said, Foe here owes _me_ money. I know, that’s a refreshing change,” he added sarcastically, “but here he is, and I could use that money and pay off someone _else_.”

The chief’s name was Mertin, he gave “Foe” an appraising look. “Stormtrooper, eh?”

“Ex-Stormtrooper.” Finn didn’t add any details: many mutineers had managed to discreetly escape the purge or had simply left service. Some pursued careers in “security” for families or companies that believed in the “Master Specie”. The Eppenstin were indifferent to that philosophy, but were very much cross with the ex-Supreme Leader. 

“See any action?” asked the short man. 

Finn was tempted to show him the sixty-centimeter scar he had on his back - since it was Kylo Ren himself that had put it there - but thought better of it. His expression darkened, though, into one the Chief thought he recognized. 

“Yeah, you’re trained and battle-hardened. Your references check out. You’ll do for tonight.” It seemed a done deal until the chief asked: “So… how much do you owe this dolt?”

“Five hundred credits,” Finn answered just as Erron said “Seven hundred.”

Mertin swore. “Allright, which is it?”

Finn swore in turn: “What! Why the two hundred extra?”

“Finder's fee for getting you the job,” Erron shrugged. Finn growled appropriately; that had been some quick thinking on the dandy’s part: that sort was always talking himself out of trouble. 

“Looks like I’ll have to do extra duty, then,” Finn added with a groan. Mertin nodded. 

Without quite planning it, Erron had set up Finn to partake in some of the more _delicate_ work. “Extra-duty” could mean anything from bringing in the “recalcitrant” participants to disposing of the “broken ones”; disgusting work that paid more. It should bring him in closer to the “action”, and to Rey. 

He walked into the blue-stone mansion, ready to start his shift. 

**

“Rey is in the Eppenstin's estate, Finn is going undercover there as a guard for the big party tonight.” Poe discussed with Leia's holo-projection. “We need to get some diplomatic reason to get Be- Kylo Ren in there.” The Resistance vets looked to Admiral Kayda Ordo’s holo. 

“A surprise diplomatic visit?” The Intelligence Officer suggested, “we can arrange an aide to announce and accompany him, we have a ship in the vicinity. You have your troopers with you. The locals are not gonna like it, though.” 

She thought for a minute: “Still, Kylo Ren is known as a powerful, and arrogant, dignitary. Showing up unexpectedly would be in character, and they’d accommodate the ex-Warlord. And the New Order has to make _some_ compromises _sometimes_.”

“Or at least look like it.” Leia asked the question Poe dreaded: “Rey is in the estate? How did she get in?”

Poe shook his head, then finally said, his expression a stormcloud: “She volunteered.”

It took a few seconds before Leia murmured: “I see.” Louder, she said “and my son? Why isn’t he here?”

“Go get him,” Jerjerrod said as he joined them, letting Poe leave the comm. “Ben Solo has been in a meditative stance for a few hours now.”

Leia made a face, "I’ll wait." 

**

Ben felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned away from the formidable beast he was grooming, there was no one there, but The Bendu’s voice resounded gently:

“It’s time to go, Ben Solo, son of Leia, daughter of Anakin. You have your part to play.”

“What part is that?” Ben asked confusedly, emerging from the peaceful state he had managed to maintain for more hours than he had ever had.

“You’re going to a dance,” the Bendu said, and Ben came to in his cabin, as if from the depths of an ocean. 

Poe was gently touching his shoulder. “Come on buddy, it’s time to work.”

He came out with a face shuttered to the people in the room with him. He wondered, not for the first time, why he hadn’t replaced his mask, the need to hide his emotions as well as his identity once again evident. He could have one made for every one of his team. 

One for the Dragon-woman. 

“Ben,” he was dragged back to his immediate surroundings by his mother’s call, “you’re going to a party tonight. Do you remember the dances?” 

The Solo wedding had been a private affair, only his mother and their few close friends in attendance. Hux had wanted a Grand Ball convening every system in the galaxy for “his Supreme Leader getting married” event, but Rey had been mortified at the idea, and their grief still fresh. The ever-loyal Captain Peavy - now admiral - had presided the official ceremony, and after a few hours of food, drinks, and a couple slow dances in the reception room on the _Aphrodite_ , they had discreetly boarded the _Bat_ and made for his grandmother Padme Amidala’s long-abandoned estates on Naboo. 

So it was “rumored” that the ex-Supreme Leader was married. For many, the rumor adding that the Jedi-killer had married the Last Jedi was just too much to take in and they dismissed the story, believing the wife to be some minor diplomatic arrangement instead. 

But Leia was referring to the times she had shown him a few steps when she had dragged him to some of the Republic balls, when his father balked and scoffed at those events. The memories were bittersweet: embarrassment at dancing with his mother, wonder at dancing with the occasional girl who would sometimes look into his eyes and be fascinated by the growing darkness in them. His growing powers. He’d been too shy to act on that power back then. 

“I remember the dances, mom. In fact, I just taught Rey the basics three days ago. It’s what got her into this mess. This _situation_ ,” he amended, trying to compose himself and plan for the operation ahead.

“Well, you’ve invited yourself to this party. Try to make friends this time, until you identify and gather the threads that tie the slavers to the official powers together, and don’t set fire to anything. Finn will be there.”

“And Rey.” 

“Don’t set fire to anything, son.” Leia’s voice was soft, “You know Rey can handle herself now.”

“I’m just as worried _she’ll_ be the one setting things on fire, mom.” He heard Poe hiss beside him. Chewie let out a low whine. 

Kayda Ordo broke in: “If you’re all done spooking yourselves here, I’ll send Lieutenant Mitaka to you to pave your way into the estate. Get yourself some nice clothes, Kylo Ren.”

**

He hated that moniker now: “Kylo Ren”. All it made him think of was Snoke, and the carnage he’d committed to please his old Master. The Power he had wielded and exulted in then had rotted away, leaving only the bleeding, quivering, insecure youth hidden in the blood splattered armor. He’d had to rebuild himself from almost ruins. Only Rey had seen his despair: first grieving both his Master’s and his father’s deaths after Crait. Then the unborn child he’d tried to save but failed. Rey had held Ben Solo crying in her lap and helped him rebuild. 

Yet there was undeniable strength in the persona of Kylo Ren, a reputation he carried with him and used during his ham-fisted negotiations, fearsome and invincible.

They found him a red silk-lined black cloak to go over a soberly decorated but discreetly padded doublet, thick leather gloves and high boots. Joe had found a leather helmet, some red-lined, horned and elaborately carved thing from some fearsome warrior-legend of his homeland, and Ben looked at it in appreciation for a while, looking at the ensemble in the mirror. He clipped his crossguard saber to the wide leather belt.

He was every inch the Dragon. The very enemy of the House they would be visiting tonight. He would rescue his mate.

**

A list of clients for ‘Rose’ was quickly filling up. She had showered, eaten lightly, and decided to re-don the dark tunic she had chosen earlier: a few months ago Ben had shared with her - a bit reluctantly - his visions of the succubus and it helped her embody the monster she had to be for the next few hours. 

A flash of communication had informed her of the plans as they were for now: Dompheld Mitaka was Kylo’s aide, the Ren himself one of the “guests” to this _soirée_. Dameron was a bodyguard while Chewbacca would remain in the New Order’s command shuttle as backup. 

Finn - aka _Foe_ \- was in place as an undercover guard, ready to physically help her if needed. Xost Bunn was expected to provide her with some choice spice to relax her - she wasn’t to take any - but he would really be whispering names of the dignitaries in her ear to identify them, while Kali whispered her the names of Qaids.

She finished applying the heavy kohl to her eyes and took the lift up the ball room, Kali by her side. 

“You really _look_ like the Dragon,” the darkside-user told her, emphasizing she was to “look the part”, not be herself.

“Pick as many clients as you can, and get them off quick,” was the advice the older woman gave her. * _Get them to tell you their name, and try to glean some from their minds: they will have preferred suppliers.*_ Kali kept a stiff smile on her face, hiding her emotions : tonight she would have her revenge.

**

Lieutenant Mitaka had changed along with the First Order. No longer unsure and afraid, he was filled with a confidence that comes from knowing one’s purpose fits his heart.

Ben looked at him a moment through the helmet, before whispering an apology for past abuse, surprised acceptance whispered back as they met when he and Poe climbed out of the chariot in front of the lavish mansion. He heard that Mitaka had improved his skill with the blaster and would make a proper bodyguard for him, though he was there mostly to keep Kylo from starting a war.

The guard at the entry hall made a sour face: they had received word of this surprise visit only an hour ago, and had had to call in all their security for what had started as a habitual holiday affair. The New Order aide had assured them that this informal visit was simply because “General Kylo” was in the system and wanted to pay a visit to the esteemed ruling families while here. 

The Eppenstin Patriarch, Aldo Eppenstin, had graciously accepted, thinking an opportunity had presented itself to make new deals with the New Republic. 

They had waited until the last minute to show up, so most of the guests were already there and relaxed, Ben once again in a meditative state to shield himself from Rey’s emotional torment. 


	10. Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When she saw General Kylo on the dance floor, she gave him a questioning look, and he gave her a smirk, before picking a tall, busty blonde for the next dance.  
> Something ugly reared its head inside Rey's breast; she singled out a man who wanted very much to be hurt.

They took her to Effroy Bowbry. She was pushed down to kneel some three meters away in front of a plush chair, in a row with other ‘dancers’: five women, three men. Off to the sides of the room were more that she couldn’t quite see. Someone broke out crying, and a guard walked over and took them away. Another was let in, silent. After a time waiting, the Quaid himself came in and he swaggered up to his throne, patting heads on his way. 

Rey kept her head down. A tension in the air was present, yet subdued. Her row of dancers was presented one by one by a cursory introduction describing name, physical attributes, training and specialty. 

Hearing some of the specialties made her recoil: there were things she’d never done in love, she hoped she wouldn’t be asked to do them as work. 

She was introduced: Rose, a student, medium build if muscular, adequate breasts, unshaved. No known training, but the scars implied some. Domix. Choking. 

Bowbry asked to see her face and she worried for a moment when she lifted the painted veil, thinking belatedly to use the Dark to slightly confuse his sight. She was suddenly glad of her conventional beauty, and of the decision to keep their post-Purge exploits in the Remnicore and subsequent marriage private affairs. Even as the Last Jedi, the Resistance had been quiet about her, still riding out Luke’s apparent confrontation with Kylo Ren, until the cry to save the wayward son had come and events had unfolded at break-neck speed. 

He gave her a little pat and they were dismissed. Just as they left the room, she heard him exclaim: “He’s coming HERE?” and felt the room suddenly erupt with electric tension and anticipation, as power dynamics were certain to change during the evening. 

_ “Here”  _ meant they were already in the Eppenstin’s mansion. It meant the Slaver’s Qaid was operating directly from the Estates. 

Knowing Ben would be there, she let herself relax a little on the ride up to the main floor, sending a reassuring pulse to both Dyad-half and apprentice. 

Up in the Ballroom, music was playing and there was a discreet applause as the Dancers were paraded in. 

For an affair described as customary for the holiday, there were still many more people than she had expected. She had just one dance before someone brought his wife to her for punishment. 

It took her a few minutes to figure out which of the two she was to please and how. There was a central dance floor and a live orchestra beside it, but the room was much larger and tables and chairs filled the other side of it. However, they were led by a guard — _Finn_! she saw — through a far door into another area for more private meetings. The dusk-skinned friend kept a straight face but for a moment they left their feelings brush against each other. He was focused and in control. 

In the room they had chosen, there was the usual panoply of toys she had learned to use earlier, and she looked to the ‘angry husband’ to help her choose the proper punishment for his despicable wife. 

If Rey was to hurt this woman, she had to have some motivation. She took a moment to breathe and reach gently into the woman’s mind to find her worst crimes. 

Then she took the horse crop and began beating her in earnest. 

General Kylo was meeting Aldo Eppenstin — the late General Eppenstin’s oldest brother — when he felt himself becoming erect and shifted in his doublet to conceal the inappropriate reaction to the list of assets and properties vaunted by this system’s greatest family. The ornate mask he was wearing was becoming hot and stifling, and he decided to remove it, to his hosts’ marvelled expression, and kept it on his lap, dismissing Mitaka’s offer to take care of it. 

After a moment, he realized the sensations bleeding to him through the bond were pleasure mixed with uncertainty and embarrassment. 

There are many ways the Darkness expresses itself; Kylo had chosen violence. He felt it was quick and impersonal. Until now, Rey had shared in that expression with him, the deaths dealt by the Dragon Crew — as justifiable as they were — still executed from anger and rage and fear and bloodlust. 

Their own lust was something reserved for each other, laced with Light however painful it would get at times. It was the Dyad, intimate and sacred.

They were _Mystical Lovers_.

Now Rey was asking for permission to breach that intimacy. 

Ben closed his eyes briefly. * _Yes._ *

Then he stood up a little painfully and excused himself to find the water closet, claiming too many cups of tea on the way to the estate. He left a surprised Mitaka and gestured to Poe to let him be. 

Rey closed her eyes and accepted the pleasure that she was expected to take from the naughty wife, all the while ignoring the man palming himself only a couple feet away from them, watching her continue to whip the woman knelt before her. 

She felt the Force reach a real balance point, maybe for the first time in years. Then she felt it start to tip again, on the other side. 

In the ornate, private _pissoir_ , unable to escape the sensations, Kylo Ren decided to share in his wife’s Dark pleasure. 

Somewhere on the second floor, ‘Foe’ was struck with a sudden, violent sneezing fit. 

**

Rey had picked up the — now satisfied — dignitary’s name, an ambassador from the planet just sunward from this one. 

She had established the link between Bowbry and the Eppenstin Estate, since she herself had been drugged, abducted, then pressured into prostitution right in these estates. 

Was it enough? Could they go now? Before something more awful, something actually _damning_ was asked of her? 

Apparently not. Once the couple left — the woman crying and rubbing at her welts — Kali walked in with a fresh cache-sexe and a moist towel to clean herself up with. 

“Another dance, my dear,” the Slave announced, a mocking expression on her face. Rey remembered her interrogation. It had not been entirely painless. 

In the Ballroom, Rey was passed from partner to partner: her status as a Domix gave her some leisure to choose her next client from the list established. Xost had found her, and helped her identify them. He hinted at the most interesting ones. 

When she saw General Kylo on the dance floor, she gave him a questioning look, and he gave her a smirk, before picking a tall, busty blonde for the next dance. 

Something ugly reared its head inside Rey's breast; she singled out a man who wanted very much to be _hurt_. 

Finn and Poe had found each other and were trading jokes as security guards do. They were also passing information: once the surprise had faded, a betting pool had been started on whether the ex-Supreme Leader would actually pick an escort to service him, or not. There was much speculation: he was known as a violent man, not a lecherous one. The rumors of a marriage of convenience still held. 

Finn confirmed he had personally seen the Qaid they were hunting, and that the man had inspected his “dance troupe”, confirming his role in the mansion. Poe though if they could rescue some of the girls and boys as part of tonight’s operation, they might get them to talk. 

Poe thought of something: if they could get Bowbry to personally present Kylo Ren with a Dancer...in Eppenstin’s mansion, maybe they could call it the night. 

They parted, Poe to comm Joe on their plan, Finn to inform Kali and Xost. 

**

Rey left the handsome man in a heap on the wooden floor: this one was the head of an important agricultural group that used millions of slaves, using them up in life, then composting their bodies in death. 

Instead of feeding his memories back to him, she had decided to enact them herself, freed from the shame of betrayal that had made her hesitate before. The Force flowing through her felt oily and black as petrol and she felt a warning from Ben: * _Be careful not to put out the Light.*_ She balked a bit at the advice, but reaching back out to him she found that he was still in the ballroom, dancing with partner after partner, never taking an offer from them. 

Xost had hinted at his clients that maybe their unexpected guest was in need of a challenge… Kali had hinted the same thing to the other capo’s, adding the very real hook it would give them on the diplomat should it be known he had cheated on his wife — whoever she was.

Mitaka was hearing other things: one of the — brutally executed — Eppenstin’s former mistresses was here, herself working as a domix. “A shame, that”, had added the aide for another dignitary as they shared pastries. 

*

Kylo tried to enjoy himself. He did love the dancing, and the musicians were excellent. The woman he danced with was exquisite, and followed his lead wonderfully, improvising for him when he hesitated, lack of practice expertly dissimulated by her experience. He leaned in close to tell her so, and she told him her name was Seka and it was an honor to dance with her ex-lover’s murderer. 

This time Kylo’s stumble was unmistakable. He recovered and said: “There was a mutiny, madame, he picked a side and lost.”

“This was before the mutiny. He was one of your generals.” There was resentment in her voice, and he was beginning to guess at who she was.

He deepened his voice, letting menace suffuse it. “Which one might that be, there were so many…” he let it trail off, reminding her she was dancing with a killer. 

That didn’t phase her, and he was struck by the malice washing from her. She was trying to impress him. “General Eppenstin”, she finally told him, “We’d been together for years.”

“Your lover had a wife and — at least — three other mistresses. He was also an awful leader.” Kylo retorted, trying to embarrass her. 

“He did and he was. But he _obeyed_ me.” Her steely eyes locked onto his, and he suddenly wondered if his tunic was padded against stabbing weapons. 

“You’ve been a bad leader… and you should be punished,” she breathed, and Kylo was again surprised by an erection. 

He now _missed_ Snoke. 

The song ended, as he finished the dance with a flourish, kissing her hand and thanking her while backing away and finding his aide and a glass of bubbly. 

*

“Sir, that young woman sure looks like your wife.”

“Lieutenant, are you saying my wife looks like a prostitute?”

“What? n-no s-sir! I was just, just-” The young man made an absolute mortified face before schooling it again. Kylo had a good laugh at his aide. The champagne was making him giddy. He’d had to hide in the latrines once again to pass the surge of Dark pleasure that had again bled through the Bond. 

He _should_ be jealous. 

But through the Bond, he was also picking up a lot of disgust and shame. Rey was finding out things about herself. He was reminded of his first few years after Snoke had finally lured him in, when his new Master had let him explore his passions and everything he’d been denied as a Jedi padawan.

Then he remembered how Snoke had progressively reined him in, mocking him, intruding in his intimacy, until Kylo had given up the pleasures of the flesh. Even private ones. 

Those pleasures had been some of the first ones he’d rediscovered once intimacy had been re-established, even if Rey had slipped into the space once occupied by the cruel Master. 

The eldest Eppenstin son came to sit with him, distracting him from his musings. Caliss, his name was; he spoke cautiously.

“My father asked me to inquire if you were _enjoying_ yourself, Sup- General,” unmistakably emphasizing the word, “he informed me you haven’t been to these occasions in years.”

Ben realized he wanted his wife, but the Eppenstins wanted his balls. They would offer him Rey if he asked for her indirectly. 

“My master Snoke kept me on a tight _leash_ .” Then he let something like wistfulness infuse his voice, “I find myself missing the old Monster. Things were… simpler then. More… _directed_.”

“Yes, the reigns of power can be tiring. Sometimes, one just wants to let go, have someone else decide for them.” He moved closer to Kylo, lowering his voice: “Someone who can keep us on the right track, should we stray… or doubt.”

“My young wife was supposed to keep me on the right track...but she’s so...timid,” he lied; Rey was _anything_ but. If these men had heard the rumor of his wife being a _Jedi_ , then they would think him _deprived_. 

“Perhaps, General, what you miss is not a Master, but a _Mistress_. The woman you just danced with... she expressed interest in your company, did she not?”

“Caliss, the woman said she had been very close to one of my Generals who had _displeased_ me.” He paused, hoping he had skirted that issue with some skill. “And she has blue eyes,” he added for good measure.”

The lordling had thought Kylo had had some remorse at killing his Uncle, some remorse the General’s mistress would have helped him expiate with some well deserved punishment. 

Alas, Kylo felt no such remorse. He enjoyed another glass of bubbly, his companion chewing his lip, measuring his options: there was this new girl — very aggressive, very seductive — but so _new_ . The Eppenstin heir excused himself, standing up. “Maybe I can find you a more appropriate dance partner. Someone _not_ timid. Dark eyes?”

“Darker, at least.”

**

Finn was listening to Kali the Dark-user murmur to her new superior, keeping a bland expression while rage simmered just under the surface. “The new girl is leaving a real trail of destruction, Mr. Bowbry, her notebook is filling up rapidly. She’s _hungry_ and unimpressionable, but very sensitive. She delivers exactly what the client wants. She even enjoys it.”

The Qaid was impressed. Many wanted to become Domix for their own pleasure or to avoid pain, but their job was to please the client. To find one that did was rare. “Seka won’t like being passed over.” 

“Seka has a conflict of interest. She would not please Eppenstin’s brother’s killer. He would not come back.”

“What about Lia?” He was wary of sending a new girl for this delicate service. 

“Lia got beaten up again. She can’t handle a killer.”

“Right. Get this Rose cleaned up. Beginner’s luck.”

Kali walked out of the war room, beckoning Foe to her: “Showtime.”

They walked: “You want Eppenstin and his cronies and contacts,” she reminded him, “I want Bowbry’s balls.”

“Right,” Finn replied.


	11. A Dance of Dragons. Aftermath.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Something’s vexed her. Finn’s trying to stay calm.” He looked at Poe, and the pilot had the surprise of seeing the Warlord in need of support. He put his hand on the big man’s shoulder and gave him a squeeze. 
> 
> The far door opened and Chewie peered in, and finding them, let out an urgent whine: “There’s some wounded, if you’re interested.” 
> 
> Ben breathed out a sigh of relief, nodded at Poe, and went out to follow the wookie, crossing and nodding at Jerjerrod who was coming in to take names and kick ass.

“You are getting your heart’s desire,” Kali told ‘Rose’ as she helped her get cleaned up… again. “The bonus you’ll get should get you through the next two years of school at least, but considering what a natural you are at this, I don’t see why you’d go back.”

Rey gave her a seething look. That last one had made her puke her guts out as soon as he’d limped out the door. The _things_ these people wanted. “Please tell me he’ll be the last one. My arms are sore, _everything_ is sore.”

“Pretty sure he’s the last one, if you can submit him. He’s pretty strong,” the Darksider teased.

“Pfttt, you know that doesn’t make a difference, I have them on their knees in minutes.”

“Yeah, he’s resisted everyone offered to him so far. Get ready to dance your best moves.” Kali gave her a peculiar look… “Take a full shower, towelling won’t do.“ 

*

Finn gave Kali a knowing look, then led Rey back to the ballroom. “I hope you’re ready… apparently this one’s important.”

When she realized who she was to submit, she stopped just far enough from him to force him to come to her and smiled a dark, terrifying smile.

*

Now that she was walking right towards him, Kylo had a good look at her. Mitaka followed his gaze and gasped. Poe grunted a low curse. 

She was just as frightening as his vision had been. He felt phantom pains flash across his chest as she glided forward. Then she stopped, her dark gaze haughty even from behind the painted gauze. Eppestins’ son had come back to his side to help him decide, opening his mouth to present them, then shut it again, almost seeing the electrical currents between the Ren and the new girl. She was just as mesmerizing as he’d hoped. 

They had him. 

Kylo stood up, handed his helm and cloak to the air — Mitaka just barely catching the artifact — walked straight to the succubus, picked up her hand, and placed his other hand over her waist. 

She melted into his frame. 

There were other still people there even if, this late in the evening, many had found other activities or had already left. They had been talking idly, speculating amongst themselves, but a hush fell upon them now. Then the band started up again. 

Poe, Finn and Mitaka stood gaping at the couple when Kali sidled up to them, making as if she needed ‘Foe’s’ assistance. “Stay sharp,” she told them curtly. “It is not impossible someone will finally put two and two together and yell it out loud. Look at them:” she added disgustingly, “I’ve never seen a couple so besotted in my life.”

Whenever Poe doubted Ben, or more recently Rey, he just had to look at them together. 

“Our cover will definitely be blown after this,” he said somberly. 

*

A man starting singing a _complainte_ in a little-known language, his heartbreak evident as an aerophone wheezed with him, and a string bass beat a rhythm they easily fell into. They both had practiced during the evening, enough for Ben to remember some flourish, enough for Rey to execute them with the _abandon_ that had fascinated friend and foe alike. Murmuring “Mi Corazon” in her ear, it took real strength for Ben to keep from picking her up and carrying her off. 

Then the tune changed to a snappier one, and Rey tapped a heel on the wooden floor, picking up the beat. A piano climbed up and down arpeggios and the dance became a feint struggle for dominance. 

_*You enjoyed yourself tonight*_ he teased.

_*Shut up, you did too, don’t think I don’t know.*_

_*Aye. To think you wanted to become a Jedi.*_

_*No wonder Luke was so crotchety. But so were you. We should do this every week.*_

_*What?*_ he almost tripped, _*I’d rather not.*_

She sweetly twirled around him, _*I know, sweetheart.*_

*

Poe and Finn grabbed their commlinks at the same time as the rumors started around them:

“That’s the _Dragon_.”

“Stage name, she’s not the actual Dragon.”

“No I’m telling you: that IS the Dragon.”

“That’s Rey Solo, Ben Solo’s wife?”

“What are you saying, she’s one of Bowbry’s Domix.”

“Joe, time to crash the party,” called Poe.

Finn ran and grabbed Rey, tearing her away from Ben to take her down stairs to the “war room” to capture Bowbry and anyone else they could get a hold of, while Poe, Ben and a surprised Mitaka, pulled out blasters and captured the Eppenstins and other top dignitaries. 

Troopers, directed by Joe and Chewie, flooded the estates and fought security, blocked exits, and then did room by room clearing and rounding up. 

*

Kali met with Rey and Finn just as they made it to the right floor. The lights in the corridor had been shut off, but with Force-sensitivity, they were able to make out the signatures of their prey. As they advanced, they passed a door that almost beckoned to them with a nervous energy that emanated from the room behind it. 

“They gathered the girls in there,” whispered Kali. “They’ll kill them before they let them testify in court. Rey… you have to stop them.”

“But we have to catch Bowbry!” the Dragon protested. Vicious energy flowed sluggishly through her. Today’s violence could only end in bloodshed, and she wanted in on in. 

“I’ll get Bowbry,” the woman hissed, “Finn, take her in and then find me.”

“But I want blood!” Rey argued, and Finn felt as much as saw the Dark working her. 

“Rey… there are a few guards in there..how many do you think you can hold at once?”

“How many…” she breathed harshly. “Let’s find out.”

Finn knocked on the door, claiming to have brought ‘one more’ and telling the password. 

Inside, ten girls and five boys, all species mixed, were on their knees, while five guards pointed weapons on them. Some cried, some were silent. All screamed when the guards saw the Dragon enter, and started shooting.

*

Kali made her way to where she thought the Qaid would be, gleaning confirmation from the guards she encountered along the way. She felt for the vibroblade tucked inside her tunic. Today would end her twisted path to revenge. 

*

On the main floor, Seka also clutched a dagger within her dress' bosom. Losing Eppenstin’s preferred attention had knocked her back down the food chain, and her experience had started to drag her down. 

Her impatience had cost her her chance to get her lover’s killer alone in a room, but there was still a way for her to get back at him, at all of them, if she moved quickly and quietly. 

*

Ben and Poe were guarding the “Very Important People” while their troops finished neutralizing the forces outside. 

“How are they doing?” asked the pilot about the other Force-users. 

“Something’s vexed her. Finn’s trying to stay calm.” He looked at Poe, and the pilot had the surprise of seeing the Warlord in need of support. He put his hand on the big man’s shoulder and gave him a squeeze. 

The far door opened and Chewie peered in, and finding them, let out an urgent whine: “<There’s some wounded, if you’re interested.>” 

Ben breathed out a sigh of relief, nodded at Poe, and went out to follow the wookie, crossing and nodding at Jerjerrod who was coming in to take names and kick ass. 

*

It took only seconds to grip every armed thug in the room, but three of the slaves were killed in that short time. Only three were unscathed and Finn moved to triage the wounded, while Rey held all the guards — five, a record! — up against the walls. 

“Stun them, Rey, I have to get to Kali before she kills our main witness,” he urged the Dragon, “I can’t leave until the room here is pacified.” The din in the room was a mix of cries and gurgles. 

Rey had both hands up, fingers splayed, holding her prey up against the walls, feeling their desperate struggles in her Force-fist like writhing snakes. 

He looked at her intense expression, then yelled: “C’mon Rey, I need you here, _now_.”

She roared and he heard the sickening snap of necks as they all fell to the ground. Then she spat and moved to the girl nearest her, beginning the healing process, though she was still red and angry from the previous exertion. 

When it seemed she was back in control, Finn ran out to find Kali, communicating with the team to keep them updated. He could feel Kali’s force signature up ahead. 

As the ex-stormtrooper ran to catch up with it, he crossed guards in various states of confusion: the Darksider must have scrambled their brains in her eagerness to get to her daughter’s tormentor. Then he made it to the door that had been left open a crack. 

Effroy Bowbry was lying on the floor, unmoving in a pool of blood. Kali stood over him, blood smeared on her face, vibro blade in one hand. 

As the ex-trooper walked closer, fearing he’d arrived too late, he heard a groan and was filled with a feeling of dread instead. 

In her other hand, the middle-aged slave held a small bag that was dripping blood on the face of the man crying on the floor. The crotch of the man’s pants were rendered open, a gaping wound visible within the long tear. 

“I’m done here,” she told him, walking towards the exit, “He’s all yours.” 

“Kali,” Finn called after her, because the Dark Side was there, undeniable and indestructible. “The school will be on Takodana. When you are ready.” 

She stopped a moment, then disappeared out the door. 

*

Ben stopped his ministrations, his gaze falling out of focus for a moment. 

A thrill had run through him. He would never be inured to death, even felt over the Bond. All his life, resisting one side then the other, constantly tempted, never at peace. 

The peaceful cannot defeat the violent. The monstrous can only turn to destroying the other monsters to remain acceptable to those they would protect. The ones caught in the middle, from lack of opportunity, of ressources, of peacetime… he hoped the New Order and the New Republic managed to rehabilitate most of them. 

He was healing many wounded, both thugs and troopers; that made him feel better, and improved the patient's disposition when it would be time for interrogations later. 

He felt Rey doing the same now; it was like watching the Light flow back into her, after a day of letting the Darkness ravage her again and again. 

What she would be like later tonight… he had no idea. Would she be cruel? Would she just need comfort?

Would either of them consider her _soiled_? The things she had done today… himself he would not consent to them. She had discovered how to fake some things, he had accepted that she do the other things, but in the long run…

Not to mention the scandal of it all. 

He could laugh. But would his mother?

Ben felt the woman behind him before she could stab him and turned to catch her wrist. 

He squeezed, grinding the delicate bones together and she dropped the blade. Peering into her eyes, he asked her:

“Did you love him? Is that why you are making this foolish attempt on my life?”

The woman Seka merely growled at him. Lightly probing her he saw many, many useful secrets...including information on First Order officers that had survived the Purge.

“You will be given a choice: work with us to better the Republic, or rot in solitary before being returned to the only thing you know how to do.”

He released her wrist and he saw her thinking as she rubbed to soothe the brief pain he had given her. He picked it up again and healed it gently. 

Then she bowed her head. 

After a trooper escorted her out, he realized that throughout the whole operation he had not killed, and hardly hurt, anyone. 

*

Joe tallied up the dead and wounded, the slaves and slavers, the powerful and peons. There would be trials and retrials for months on end. There would be therapy and retraining for years. There was enough information to pursue operations in six other systems. 

There were scandals to spread, and one to contain. He dreaded that part. Their cover was blown wide open. It would take weeks to mitigate the damage.

Rey Solo, wife of diplomat Ben "Kylo" Solo, daughter-in-law of councilor Leia Organa, caught in a police raid in a high-profile dignitaries’ sex-ring bust. As a _Domix_. _With_ Ben Solo in attendance. 

The couple’s faces would be plastered on every media, throughout the galaxy. 

Any of her “clients” could testify to her participation in acts lewd and unbecoming. Tampering with their memory would render their testimony to other information null and void. 

Even without the political implications, rumors among the religious groups that worshipped Rey as a healer had already started to denounce that the Darksider Kylo Ren had _corrupted_ the Last Jedi. 

It was a mess. 

***

“I did not let a single one inside… in _any_ way.” 

“That took some gymnastics.” He continued puttering around, fixing the stuff on his desk. It had taken him some not small gymnastics of his own to remain calm and not just break in and crash the whole farce. 

“I couldn’t avoid some stuff, you know; I cleaned myself every time.”

“I remember you — covered in blood and guts after the Purge.”

“It’s not the same.”

She had taken three showers today and suddenly he understood what she was telling him. 

“Do you remember when we first kissed, on Kef Bir? What you were thinking? What you called me?”

Her eyes were far away. It seemed a far away memory.

“You called me your ‘Beautiful Monster’. Do you remember?”

She nodded, she hadn’t said it out loud, but she had felt it: Kylo Ren, the Jedi-killer. An undeniable part of herself. The Darkness — a part of them. Of both of them. Of the Universe. Of the Force. 

“You were going crazy, thinking I had turned.” 

“I was. But you weren’t trying to kill _me_. Not anymore.” 

“I was hoping you’d come into the Light.”

“And I did. Did I leave the Dark?”

“Didn’t you?” She knew the answer before he said it.

“I didn’t. Every day I choose again.”

Her eyes darkened: “It’s so hard.”

“Snoke and the Ren made me touch bottom not just once but twice. I was able to choose after that. You hit yours now. I understand.”

She was half-bouncing on her toes, half-twisting away and into him, wracked as if in pain, the wounds invisible to anyone else.

“Wash me,” she finally asked. 

They were on Naboo, on his grandmother Padme’s family estates. The tub was a huge, dark-wooden thing, the bathroom brilliantly lit by the late afternoon sun. They were officially “on vacation”, to give time to his mother’s PR staff to spin their role in the raid on the Eppenstin mansion. 

They needed a break. 

He wondered if the people of the galaxy would forgive her excursion into the Darkness as much as it had forgiven his six-year-long crusade against the Jedi and anyone associated with them. 

It was easier to forgive murder than lust. 

Once the water was started running, he reached for her and started peeling the clothing off her, and she him. She wouldn't let him kiss her, it had been three days of malaise and silent crying, and sudden outbursts of rage. He reached for the washcloth but she instead searched and found a bristle floor-brush and handed it to him. 

Memories of being scrubbed down by medics after the Purge melded with memories of being scraped clean then patched up and put in a tank on board the Finalizer, or of being thrashed and scourged by Snoke after raids and battles — no matter the outcome — before being cared for by the medics. He had seen pity in some of their eyes. 

It was symbolic, this washing of the sins that she wanted, and he decided he deserved the same treatment she wanted. 

In the tub, they took turns scouring each other’s pale skin until it was pink and blood bloomed at the surface. They scoured until the pain brought tears to each other’s eyes and when the sun had set and the water was cool they dried each other off and then proceeded to kiss every inch of their bodies’ burning skin. Then they spent the early night in a communion of healing. 

“Rey,” he asked as they lay in clean linen sheets, “I don’t want you to do that kind of undercover work again. Please.”

“Are you jealous?” She’d said it with a teasing tone, but what she asked was much simpler. She wanted to know it mattered to him. Their love was a promise, it was their center, it was what kept the balance. 

“Yes,” he answered, and he rolled on top of her again. 

*

Rose had heard and seen the holonet news and had been granted a week off from her studies. She sat at the table with Finn, who was toying with his food, eyes far into the distance. 

When some of Bowbry’s henchmen had run into the room, they’d found him kneeling beside the Qaid, trying to heal and staunch the bleeding, to at least close the wound. Misunderstanding his intentions — him being the “new guy” — they’d shot at him, and he’d ended up killing them instead. He then staggered back to the room where he’d left Rey, communicating the situation with the rest of the team, and found the Scavenger crying and healing a twi'lek boy, this one barely into his teens. 

Of the five guards, three were dead. Two had their necks snapped in such a way it would take years before they found usage of their limbs again. 

But it was Rey’s black eyes that haunted him since. The look of _knowing_ she had in them now.

During the evening, Finn had managed to block out the sensations that had permeated through the Force, concentrating instead on his own tasks, that of moving escorts and clients from room to room, occasionally practicing the mind-trick to negotiate “softer” deals between them. 

He’d also made rounds on the upper floors, picking up information on deals being made between Eppenstin and representatives of industries and systems. He would be an important witness for the coming prosecutions; that made him a target for retaliation. 

But what he’d seen in Rey’s eyes, and later, the recognition in Ben’s eyes when they’d been reunited after the raid... that had shaken him. 

The Dyad had swapped sides for a whole day. The inevitable had happened. Ben had been the Guardian of the Light, Rey had been the Weapon of the Dark. 

And as a Grey Jedi in training himself, he was terrified. 

Rose took his hand. “You can quit this, you know.”

Apart from the slaves immediately rescued that night, some two dozen all told, raids on other locations in the hours following had dismantled at least fifty other such rings in those four systems and Intelligence was still compiling information for other important Families and politicians. 

Minor governments would fall. 

They had done more good than harm. But Rey had had to swim through the blackest muck to get them that intel. His turn would come eventually. _How would Rose deal with that?_ he wondered. 

“Why don’t you turn your efforts toward industry slaves for a while? Droids?” she asked, as if reading his thoughts, “I could help with that.”

*

Poe and Leia and Joe sat in the Dragon’s galley, waiting for Chewie to come down from the cockpit. 

The Dragon crew were all on semi-forced vacation, even if Leia was just starting the exhausting work of redirecting the power structures the operations had destroyed or weakened. 

Calls for her son’s head had started again, along with Rey’s for good measure. They would have to recruit more Force-sensitives to make their presence in the galaxy measurable, as well as expose the Jedi’s hubris once and for all, to make the _idea_ of Dark side training as _necessary_. 

The Jedi of old had been wiped out, alongside their nemesis the Sith, but only other sensitives could see and benefit from the wisdom of the few Masters that had transfigured into Force-Ghosts. They were being annoyingly quiet. 


	12. Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He gave him a good slap on the arm and Ben’s head snapped up. 
> 
> “Well, whatever you’re doing, it isn't working. Let’s get her the hell outta here. “Vacation’s” over.”

“That’s a change from my mother.”

“That’s a change from _you_.”

“From you too, son. I remember that woman - redhead? - you had in your life for a while. She was a fiery one.”

“Mara Jade. Yeah, I should have kept her with me. Things would have been different.”

The Skywalker son and father stood in the wind-blown grassy field. 

“From Virgin Mother to... Domix, in three generations.” Anakin was disconcerted.

“From jealous murderer to compassionate healer.” Luke smirked, and his father gave him a sidelong look, “In one.”

“Rey needs to come here. Meet the Bendu.”

“I’ve looked at ways to bring them here,” Luke said, “the Mirror on Ahch-To is split. Dagobah - well Ben destroyed that one.”

“He’s a real Bantha in a pottery shop, that one.”

“The Spire on Coruscant is also sealed shut to them. So that leaves Exegol, Byss and Spintir.”

“Spintir then. The others...” If a Force-Ghost could shiver, Anakin Skywalker would have. “They are far from ready for either of those.”

“Master Yoda should be able to guide them through the World between Worlds. If he’s not too busy.”

“Heard that, I did,” piped a voice both raspy and fluted. “Invite them, I will.”

***

“Madam Solo, you have to open the School without them.”

Leia looked at the distraught ex-general Hux before her. 

It turned out quite a few artists they picked up focused their energies through Dark side use, and as wonderful as it had been at first, it was becoming overwhelming. 

They had picked up Light-side users as well. 

“They distrust each other. I’m not equipped to make them work together. They _fight_!”

“Armitage, it can’t be that bad, I mean the _Aphrodite_ is a sturdy ship.”

“That’s not the point, Leia. The other students are frightened of them. They need someone with experience to guide them, and _my_ experience is not the one they need.”

Leia thought Hux’s experience with Dark side users was exactly what was needed but she understood: between the Arts and the Politics, Hux was swamped with responsibilities. 

“I’ll contact Maz on Takodana. I’ll have her prepare some rough drafts.”

“Drafts for what? Oh!” Hux visibly relaxed, then his face bloomed with delight. 

“For the architectural wonder that will be the School for the Force-Gifted. They will of course, build most of it themselves.”

*

They hung up and Leia was still left with a scandal on her hands. They had managed to minimize Rey’s acts in the dungeons, mostly by invoking trickery, though they had had to threaten or appease her “clients”, who had been so awed at her performance Leia refused to listen to their testimony. 

They had spun her son’s ‘Kylo’ persona as “open-minded” toward such things, reminding them of his killer past. Reminding some of the higher class influencers of their own “open-mindedness” with their wives and daughters during Kylo’s promiscuous early years. 

The team had also had to remind them the difference between consent and slavery. 

Rey had been abducted. It had been her training as an agent that had helped her endure, yes _endure_ , her ordeal that evening, and she still woke up with nightmares and puked her guts out in the middle of the night. 

She was a hero. 

The Eppenstin family, the now recovering Effroy Bowbry, and the hundreds of “dignitaries”, industry magnates and crime bosses linked to them were the ones they should be focusing their attention on. 

But of course, the holonet media wouldn’t have it. 

So. 

All they could do was wait for the next scandal to eclipse this one. 

***

The Crew of _the Dragon_ : Poe, Finn, Chewie, BB-8, and Rose, sat together in a mess hall on board the _Promise_. 

Rose held Finn's hand tightly. Finn had been having nightmares himself: some of the trauma had bled to him and he kept having flashes of Rey holding the five guards by the throat. He had other flashes of some of the other things he had done as well, one particular one of bringing an obviously underaged girl to a “client”, and later removing her body. 

He kept repeating to himself: “We did good. We did what had to be done to catch them milf-fuckers,” and then wonder if they should go back out there, find more, and just kill them all.

Chewie sat pensive, remembering his own trauma from the time he had spent in a cage.

“<You’re right, Rose. Freeing mine and industry slaves should be less awful...though by my experience, not by much.>”

BB-8 chirped at that; droids often toiled alongside slaves in the fields and mines.

They all looked to Poe: he was their Captain _by interim._

“I’ll go visit the _Dragon Nest_ this week. Find out how they’re doing. I’ll drop you all off on Takodana on the way.”

**

On Takonada, they found Hux sitting and drinking tea with Maz... and Keelcali Tilhod.

They hugged and were rewarded with a tearful ex-slave. 

“The School’s not quite opened yet, is it?” she prodded Finn.

“Well, we need students and teachers. But we came here just now for that,” he greeted his ex-commander, “Hux, good to see you here.”

It had taken a lot of effort to get Hux and Rose and Finn to work together, but his role in defeating the mutiny had laid down the basis for trust, and the ginger-haired man had proven himself invaluable again and again. Today was no exception.

Armitage spoke:

“The School for the Force-gifted will start as an extension of the Arts school. Lightsaber fighting will not be taught here, though the use of a Kyber crystal as a focus for creative energy is being studied right now - by the sculptor Bolvuss Mearhaks. I had one in my collection of junk that we managed to salvage and he’s been making the thing sing for hours. It’s uncanny.”

Maz spoke in turn: “Keelcali here says she can start a dance troop for us. Kali?”

“I thought I would come here to study but apparently you need teachers just as much. Yes, as a slave I was a dancer for many years. A good dancer would usually be treated better than the other “meat-girls.” “Hux winced at that, he hadn’t heard her whole story yet, “Dance can seduce, and I can teach that, but it can also enlighten. That is what I will study.” 

“This is extraordinary. Does Ben know? Is Leia here?” asked Poe. When Hux pointed to the courtyard, he took his leave from the group to go find his beloved General. 

Finn turned to Kali: “What did you do with the... you know.”

“They were delicious.”

And Finn dropped the subject. 

*

Poe found Leia sitting on a little padded stool in front of a group of nine students who were in a meditative stance. They were of all ages and all species. 

He watched her for a while. He watched all of them. Some of the younger students twitched, and there were more than a few flying bugs to annoy the group, but overall he got the feeling each one of them was aware of the chance they were being offered: a place to grow into what they would become: Force-Users. 

Leai opened one eye and silently rose to meet him and they walked a little ways out so as to not disturb the group. 

Advertising that the school would be open to any form of Force-sensitivity, and that all aspects would be explored had been the incentive needed to attract students from everywhere in the Galaxy. It was their mission statement: Education for harmony. 

Engineering with Force-sensitivity and Martial Arts curriculum were also being considered, once the Solos became available.

“I never thought I would be called upon to teach. I never completed my training. I get the feeling I was tricked by Snoke as well: I had dreadful premonitions at every session with Luke, until I thought something terrible would happen to the baby if I continued. And the Jedi with their ridiculous “White Knight” policy, putting themselves above the rest, as if to love was to rut like animals…” She cut off before becoming angry. “But what are you kids doing here?”

“A happy coincidence for the rest of the Crew, but I’m on my way to see how the Solo’s are doing. Some of us are getting restless.”

It wasn’t the most honorable of motivation, but Poe had been involved in some battle or another for the past ten years. He didn’t know what to do with himself during peacetime. He’d already visited Jannah twice over the past two weeks and discovered he was pretty much useless to their way of life. He’d offered to accompany Chewie on Kashyyyk, but once he’d dropped the big shaggy male off to his wife, he’d quickly felt like the outsider he was.

So he had travelled around with BB-8 on the _Dragon_ , trying to stay out of trouble. 

“You’re not going to settle down, are you?”

“Nope.”

They spoke quietly for a while before Poe told her he was on his way to Naboo.

“Tell the kids I’ll be here for a while, it seems.” She was turning back to her group when she added: “Tell Rey I love her. Tell Ben. They both need to hear it.”

***

She lay underneath him, caressing, but she was quiet. He stopped when he realised she had a faraway look in her eyes.

He didn’t know he’d miss the biting, infuriating Rey that left him bruised and bleeding... until she stopped being the fury. 

Now she was all soft and submissive, and spending way too much time on her knees. And pleasing her was like pulling teeth. 

He knew time would heal these wounds, but sometimes he just wanted to put her across his knees and _spank_ the spark back into her. 

But he didn’t.

He got up, announcing he had to use the 'fresher but when he came back instead of joining her again he got dressed. She was still lying in bed, and waves of darkness rolled off her. He backed out of the room. 

Her darkness called to his and threatened to overwhelm him. If he gave in to what she wanted right now, he’d kill her.

He went outside to walk a bit around the garden. In the past two weeks he’d found a patch of ground that had some abandoned flower bushes in them and in a nearby shed he had found a hoe and some gardening tools. The thorny flowers had not been taken care of in years and yet, in spite of the weeds and the bugs, they still stubbornly flowered, as big and as bright as they could. 

He heard the ship land and felt Poe coming towards him but only stopped weeding once Poe was right near him. He stood up and wiped his muddy hands on his trousers to greet his friend. 

“Supreme Leader…” Poe started to jest but the look Ben gave him stopped him short. “Where’s Rey?”

Ben pointed a thumb towards the silent house.

“How is she doing?”

“She broke.”

“Oh _Maker_ , Ben, what does that mean?”

“Remember the _Dragon_ ? Well, the _Dragon’s_ a _mouse_ now.”

“Oh no.”

They made their way to a little table and chair set overlooking the lake. Ben and Rey had eaten breakfast a few times the first week, until Rey stopped getting out of bed. 

“Here, I brought these.” Poe handed Ben a bottle. It was a little early in the day, but Ben made an exception.

“I’ve been hinting at leaving here for a week, but she won’t get up. She says she doesn’t want to see anyone, just me.”

Poe kept silent for a while. It wasn’t the first time he wondered if the whole Slaver-Hunters mission was such a good idea. They’d all thought it would be good for Ben to have an outlet for his Dark Energies. They’d thought Rey had needed such an outlet as well. _He_ certainly had felt good about the work, until now. 

“The School has nine students now.” Poe decided to give him some good news: the opening of the school could mean an end to the raids, at least for the Force-Sensitives.

“The School?”

“Yeah, apparently Hux called Leia and begged her to open it right away.” He shared with his - best? - friend all he had learned in the few hours he had been on Takodana. He also shared his own restlessness. 

“It’s like I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Ah, I know that feeling.” 

After Rey had enrolled in engineering school and before his mother had found him some “diplomatic” work, he’d also travelled around the Galaxy a bit, though never far from his Dyad-half. 

“I don’t know what to _do_ with her!” Ben suddenly broke down, head in his hands, and Poe put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly. He let the big man cry himself out. 

Then he gave him a good slap on the arm and Ben’s head snapped up. 

“Well, whatever you’re doing, it isn't working. Let’s get her the hell outta here. “Vacation’s” over.”

The men marched into the house, then made a big noise of picking up supplies and emptying the cupboards, opening windows and airing out the rooms before covering the furniture and putting together the baggage. 

Then Ben took a deep breath and they picked up Rey from the bed, carried her all the way to the pier,  and threw her feebly whining form into the lake. 

Whatever meek and tame creature they had thrown in, what came out was furious and for a minute they saw the Dragon again. She even spat _fire_ at them and they had to dodge out of her way. 

The boys embraced and jumped up and down and laughed and then quickly threw her some clothes while she raged and threatened to castrate the both of them - that stopped them laughing - but they rushed inside to finish packing and carry everything onto the freighter. 

When she came in, flushed, but calmer, she apologized for her outburst but Ben didn’t let her get too profuse and showed her an open panel in the engine room where some wiring had - conveniently - browned out. Rey swore copiously and looked at them suspiciously but both shrugged and blamed the other. 

Ben handed her the toolkit, Poe a bottle, and they all clinked their bottles together before the boys climbed back up to the cockpit and punched the coordinates to go back to Takodana. 


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He didn’t say if we should bring Finn with us.” Rey replied to the question asked by Leia. “We don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
> 
> “Figures. We open the school and the two top Force-users run off on some errand with Yoda.”

Chewie was first to hug her when she came down the gangplank of the _Dragon._ Then Maz found her and led her into the courtyard so she could see how things had progressed since she had last been there, only six months ago. Most of the towers were back up, others had been too broken up. The renovations were not seamless; it was easy to tell the new structures from the old. There were also new banners being put up, as was the tradition of the visitors to hang banners from where they had come from to proudly display them in Kanata’s cantina’s courtyard. They stood quietly for a while, side by side, Maz as usual letting the silence play out. 

“Doesn’t it bother you that the new towers look so different from the rest of the place?” Rey finally asked.

“Not at all. This place has been up for over twelve hundred years. I took it over five hundred years ago. It’s seen some action. It’s been struck by lightning dozens of times. It’s been torn down at least five times by some war or another. And it's been rebuilt every time.”

“But it doesn’t look the same.”

“The same as what? The same as when? You didn’t notice when you first came here because you didn’t know it, but none of the towers were the same back then either. They’d all grown green and mossy a bit — the jungle climate will do that — but two of the towers were less than a hundred years old.

“Some of my best friends have told me to abandon it and move somewhere else. But I love this place: it doesn’t matter how broken and mossy it gets; I will always rebuild it, and I will always remember how it’s changed over the years: it’s my home. It will never be ugly or unsuitable to me: it just has more interesting stories to tell than most.”

Rey knelt and hugged Maz. “I saw some very frightening things here and ran away. But you were right: there is no going back, only forward.”

“You loved that monster, scars and all, and saved him. I think he loves you back. Scars and all.”

“Scars and all.” 

Inside the cantina, there were some new band members and some old customers, and the two joined the rest of their friends and family for supper. 

Leia gave them some reassuring statistics: thousands of slaves had been rescued in only two weeks. Thousands. 

Hux let out a low whistle and clapped hands with most of them. He hugged Rey and she heard him say something about more courage then he had ever had, and the valor of what they had done began to sink in.

Then Keelcali showed up and Hux happily told Rey how they would also have a dance troupe. There was a nervous moment of _malaise_ until Rey saw how the older woman was self-conscious and worried about fitting in and being part of the gang... in spite of all the things she’d lived through and done. 

Rey opened her arms, and the women embraced... and then conversation started up again. 

***

* _Come to the Bendu, you can._ *

“Ow!” Rey banged her head, hard, against the bulwark. “Master Yoda! You startled me!”

The little green goblin only laughed, which made Rey laugh in turn. 

“What is the Bendu?”

* ** _Who_ ** _is the Bendu. A teacher, he is._ *

“We have a teacher? Great! Where is he?”

 ** _*When_ ** _is he. Through the World between Worlds, you must pass.*_

“The world between… I got a bad feeling about this.”

*

She found Ben with Rose at the drafting table. Rose had designed a baffler device to hide the School in case of threat. The scandal had turned some remaining Jedi sympathizers against them both. It would take years to balance the metaphysical implications of the Grey Jedi. 

Her talk with Chewie had helped, reminding her of the years he’d spent in a cage, feeding like an animal. He’d done what he could to survive. She’d done what it took to free the others. 

She’d learned more things about the Dark in that evening than in the months before. It had split her to the bone. Now, after the past week’s mental quagmire, she was beginning to accept her fall — or rather her experience — as just something she had to learn from. And something else: Ben felt like that experience balanced _them_ out too. He’d always felt undeserving of forgiveness: now she understood him even better. 

Rose was leaving today and when she saw Rey she showed her the plans for the placement of the devices on the drafts for the new School. 

Some of Hux’s students had contributed, as well as Ben, who had some design and technical drawing skills. “Colorful”, “Eclectic” and “Organic” were some of the terms that could be used for the first drafts. 

Meanwhile, the students were lodged in transports, a field classroom had been set up — Takodana’s warm climate permitting — and Maz took charge of feeding them from the kitchen of her cantina. The latrines had been “grown” from a copse of trees nearby by Bolvuss Mearhaks. It was a fantastical sight to behold. 

Finn ran up to meet with Ben, unclipping his new lightsaber from his belt. It shone a bright green, darker bands of light woven within the core, like malachite. Rose had helped him with the hilt’s design and machined the housing. Finding a Kyber crystal had been a quest of its own. Finding more for the future graduates would be a challenge. 

The two men walked to a hard-packed-earth training arena and started flowing through forms. 

It was a wonder to watch them, and soon students came to loiter around the training ground, some in obvious awe, others shy and uneasy.

Rose came to stand beside Rey as they watched. 

“Good. Every time they train together, it strengthens their bond.”

And Rey saw how it was true. 

Ben always gave Finn time to warm up and then asked him if he was ready before the real training would begin. The fear that Finn had of Kylo Ren had turned to respect over the first year, and the struggles all of them had with the Dark had colored that respect into solidarity between Force-Users. Finn’s lightsaber combat abilities had improved with his confidence — and his trust in the Ren — and their matches were becoming closer now, the ex-trooper beating the ex-Warlord a good third of the time. 

Rey wasn’t nearly as careful with her found brother, though, never waiting for him to be ready once they were on the grounds. It had made for some accidents, but she felt them to be more closely matched, and demanded he do the same. He would, reluctantly, push her harder each time. 

Ben now. Ben was desperate she became the best Lightsaber-wielder the galaxy had ever seen, terrified he would lose her due to some deficiency in training, and she always came away from their sparring with some wound to heal. She beat him almost half the time now. 

He beckoned to her now.

She vaulted into the area, roaring and lighting her Lightstaff all at once. 

Rey had developed her roar into an manifest ability: it so surprised her opponents, coming from such a small figure, that they either froze in place, or attacked in a rage, taunted into clumsy, overreaching attacks that ultimately cost them the advantage of strength or size they might have over her. She had become so proficient in it Ben thought it might be related to the Force-Scream ability of _Dun Möch_ , though the complete knowledge of the combat form was lost. It certainly backed her reputation as the _Dragon._

The tripartite combat evolved before the mesmerized students. Alliances formed and reformed according to subtle signals and in turn each of them yielded to the other two. Rey was amazingly good at this form, spinning around and crowding her chosen opponent so closely, the ally had to refrain from hitting both of them. 

She didn’t keep her cool to the end though, and eventually the men backed away from her. 

“Rey, no fire.”

“ _Shield_ yourselves, cowards!”

Finn shook his head. “She wins again, Ben. That’s all there is.” He turned off his ‘saber, and wiped his brow. “It was a good match though.” He bowed a deep salute, hands clasped in the proper form. Ben saluted back. Rey was breathing hard, looking at her mentor with shoulders bunched.

“Just you wait, Kylo Ren,” and she marched off. 

“Oh you’re in trouble,” Finn said.

“I hope so,” Ben smiled. Finn shook his head again. 

**

Rose and Finn — soon to be Finn Tico — were a bit late for Rose’s and the other’s farewell supper that night, but they were cheered when they came in and the conversations resumed as lively as before. 

“He didn’t say if we should bring Finn with us.” Rey replied to the question asked by Leia. “We don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”

“Figures. We open the school and the two top Force-users run off on some errand with Yoda.”

“<Well you better study the planet before you go. It has a reputation even _I_ heard of.>” Chewie had been there with Solo. Smuggling things. Spintir was a wealthy trade planet on the outer rim in the Spadja sector. Clear across the galaxy from where they were. It had a nice enough capital city — Reles — but some conflict few people spoke about had happened. “<There’s a Jedi Temple there, but it’s abandoned,>” he added as an after-thought. 

“Luke and I were supposed to go there… before shit happened.” Ben revealed. “We did get a chance to study the parts of its history and geography that have to do with where we’ll be going, but, the World between Worlds…” He trailed off. _The World Between Worlds_ though. Luke had mentioned it _after_ passing into the Force. It wasn’t _in_ the Galaxy. It was in a parallel space... like hyper-space. He’d read of heroes passing through it before, in the time of the Rebels, and before that… in his Grandfather’s time. 

On Spintir were the _Caves of Light and Shadow_. It seemed appropriate that the Dyad should travel through them on their way to find the Bendu. 

But could they bring anyone else with them? Non-Force sensitives? People like Poe and Chewie?

“You said he said _‘when_ is the Bendu’ ?” Ben asked. That was another thing. If they got lost in there… Malia and Lumpy would never forgive him. Not that they would be able to do much about it. 

Maz leaned over to him and whispered in his ear: “If you get lost in there, come find me. I’ll send someone to find you from here. Or rather now.” Ben looked into the minuscule woman’s wizened face. A thousand years old. She would be the only fixed point for them, at least for the last five hundred years that she had semi-retired to her Castle-Cantina here on Takonada. She was an anchor in time. 

“Are you sure?” he asked her, and she nodded _yes_. Somehow, that made her reassurance foreboding. 

It was Leia that said the most reassuring thing to him though: “If my brother or my father get you lost in there… I better know right away.” And indeed, the Force-Ghosts would get a talking to if something happened to them.

**

It was loud in the Cantina, and Rey thought maybe she would turn in early — and get ready for Ren — when the band switched some of their instruments and everyone turned their heads to them. 

_Of course._ She waited, unsure she wanted to dance, a knot forming in her stomach. That beautiful music had heralded the worst evening of her life.

But also one of the best ones, only days before. She turned to her mate but he was already with someone else.

His mother.

*

Ben Solo held his mother close, her fragile form tiny in his arms. She hadn’t danced since the last summer before his disappearance, since she’s helped form the Resistance, even if part of finding support had entailed raising funds and making herself visible to systems that were on the fence about an organization that threatened — or promised — law and order. 

Now he was gentle with her, guiding her with a firm hand she could rely on for balance. Other couples eventually joined them on the floor but they steered away from the big man, a frown on his face the only thing needed to clear some space.

“How is she doing? She seems better.”

“Poe tell you how she was?”

“No, but he looked worried when he left; that message you left him was bleak. He came back with a look of relief.”

“Yeah. She was… so soft for a while. So tame. I was going crazy.”

“You’d think that was a good thing. Her always so… dangerous all the time. She mistreated you.”

“Oh mom. I love you too,” he told her, spinning her around now that she seemed to remember the steps. “But I realized... I need that _fire_ . I _always_ did. But now I think she’ll better understand my limits. Our limits. She certainly discovered hers.” 

“Well I hope so. She was about to discover mine,” and Ben had to laugh at that. The song ended and he walked his mother back to her seat. Then, because she had made promises to him earlier today, he walked over to his wife, extended his hand and whispered, loudly:

“Join me, please.” 

There was no denying that request.

There was something to be said for easy, submissive Rey: she certainly followed his lead and moved with the grace the dance freed in her. She was supple and trusting and beautiful and the way she looked at him, like he was the sun of her world…

No, not the sun. The shade. Rey had spent most of her life scorched by the sun of her world. Relief had been found in the shadows: where water would sometimes condensate, where she could hide from the thugs that threatened to steal her hoard, where she could find relief from the burning, blinding light that weighted on her and wrung her dry of any moisture she fought daily to find.

Ben was cool waters to her. And she dug below his surface to find it, to make it gush out and quench her thirst. In his darkness Rey could express the desire she had always repressed on Jakku, lest she became known as a girl who _did_ , and make herself vulnerable to what had probably happened to her mother, alone and unable to take care of a baby. 

Now that she could free her desire, he could not deny her. 

And so once she was warmed to the dance, her attitude changed. She tapped her heel with a loud “ _Tock!_ ”. She gave just a little more resistance, just enough stiffness he had to put more energy into his signals, and she took that energy and swirled around him and whipped her leg into angry flourishes that said: “earn me”. 

When he drew her close, she bent at an impossible angle, near a tipping point, and he had to pull her in in a spiral around him before he could place her hand over his heart, where he held it. She moved right into him. Looking into her hazel eyes, it was, again and as ever, the fight in the snowy forest. He leaned down and touched his cheek to her forehead; she closed her eyes and he hummed “Mi Corazon” into her hair. Her other hand reached up his arm, his shoulder, the nape of his neck and into his hair…

And Hux harrumphed loudly and announced he was leaving. With Rose. _Come along, Miss Tico, classes start early on Monday._

Rose broke the kiss with her betrothed and everyone stopped and hugged and bid them farewell. And the evening was done. 


	14. The Galaxy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So he had taken her with him because something had sung to him, a subsonic song more felt than heard. 
> 
> There had been a memory of a touch. An echo, a chord. 
> 
> Years ago. The night he became Kylo Ren. He had cried in rage. And his cry had reached far into the galaxy and found something. Some one. 
> 
> Her. 

Ben flopped onto the bed, thinking his mate would make good on her earlier promise, but she sat on the desk chair in their little cabin instead and asked:

“Do you remember when we first met? Here on Takodana?”

“I do. Not my finest hour.”

“Why did you come after me?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Did you know me, or _of_ me?”

“I _felt_ you. At first I thought you just had a stronger Force-signature than the average joe.” He stopped. 

It was _her_ awakening that Snoke and he had felt in the Force. 

When he’d touched down on Jakku, he’d come within kilometers of her. Had he... what? “strummed the Bond” like one touches a string? 

And then Snoke had felt it _through_ him?

“Do you remember the night before BB-8 found you?

“Not particularly.”

“And the next day?”

“The next day… I piloted the Millenium Falcon. To everyone’s surprise, including my own. I mean… I’d studied it...”

“Ah. That must be it, then.” 

The Millenium Falcon had been on Jakku. For years. As if in waiting. 

And then she’d piloted the... _capricious_ ship and brought his father to him. 

_Look at you: the deed split your spirit to the bone._ A voice resonated in his mind.  _ That  _ voice.

“Do you think that was our first connection? Before the “interrogation”?

_You have compassion for the girl._

His mood darkened abruptly. “Rey. I don’t want to talk about it.”

_What girl?_

The mood was spoiled. 

He got up, reached for his cloak. 

“Where are you going?”

“To take a walk.” 

The moonless night of Takodana was illuminated by the stars of the core, so close and yet so far from where the planet floated in the midrim. He could make out a narrow path snaking into the woods and he followed it, his mood and his lightsaber clipped to his belt making him feel confident he was pretty much the most dangerous thing out there after the sun had set. 

The path started a little incline up and he started regretting wearing the cloak: it was too warm. He stopped, wondering if he should bring it back now, or carry it. 

It was his favorite, the red-lined one. He would find it again if he hung it from a tree on the path. 

He continued on, all dark greys in a darker green forest, listening to the cries of the night creatures he wanted to blend with, convors fluttering curiously and flurrgs chirping then falling silent at his approach. An unlucky creature screeched near him, and he felt it’s life-force twinkle out of existence. He knew it would serve to feed others. 

_It was always her. It had always been her._ When he’d found her, only a few clicks from where he was walking now, he’d taken her for himself. His _soul,_ what dirty, tattered remnant of a soul he had at that time — when he had been so close to the Dark — had _compelled_ him to take her. 

He hadn’t even felt a sexual attraction to her then. She was almost formless from starvation and he had forsaken his body, honed it into a cold, singular weapon, a blade that burned brightest when left unquenched. 

So he had taken her with him because something had sung to him, a subsonic song more felt than heard. 

There had been a memory of a _touch_. An echo, a chord. 

Years ago. The night he became Kylo Ren. He had cried in rage. And his cry had reached far into the galaxy and found something. Some _one_. 

_Her_. 

The path followed a freshet and at the top he found a still pond in a clearing. It had rained the night before and it had filled like a moss-lined bowl, the surrounding trees dipping long roots into it as if drinking from the galaxy’s core that was reflected in it as in a mirror.

He immediately began to strip. 

He swam a few lengths — it was neither very deep nor very wide — but it was enough to put him in a calming trance and when he stopped, naked and alive, he found a mossy seat near the edge and let his senses reach into the pool — fish and creatures swam near him, curious at his intrusion, and wisely wary.

Of course she found him. 

He felt her approach from behind, her Force-signature like nothing else in the universe, and he turned his head to see her ghost-pale face float above her form cloaked in darkness. His cloak, in fact. 

She smiled at him, a wicked smile, and she removed the cloak, revealing her pearly, naked figure to him. She was the moon Takonada needed.

The water was cool and she joined him, shivering and warm and the contrast of her heat on his cold skin as she pressed herself against him was warming and arousing all at once. Neither said a word, but he picked her up and carried her from the pool to where she had put down his cloak beside the pond and laid her over it, and him over her. 

They kissed and caressed in the starlit jungle clearing, him rolling his hips into her, rubbing his erection against her in long strokes, feeling her getting damp, then wet, then lush, while he kissed and suckled at her breast, teasing her and making her moan in anticipation of taking her.

But he didn’t take her. 

He reached with his hands and let his fingers brush against her folds, strumming her and listening to her song, but didn’t reach inside to make her core thrum. 

He wasn’t going to take her _easy_.

Her movements changed subtly, from a sensuous, responsive undulation to something syncopated, more forceful. Her caresses changed to pressing grasps, to scrapes. 

Her moans turned to frustrated grunts.

“What are you _doing_ ?” she finally growled, her hips trying to chase his as he moved just out of reach. She raised herself on her elbows, looking right _at_ him.

“What? Nothing,” he smiled. He strummed her folds again, thumb moist and just circling her nub, then moving away again. He brought it to his mouth and sucked on it, keeping his eyes on hers. He leaned in for a deep, longing kiss that tasted like wild honey and she moaned into his mouth and heaved under him. 

He let his hardened shaft slide against her, right up against her heat, and away again. 

“No no no, argh! Stop _playing_! Give it to me!”

“No.”

She snapped.

He did put up a fight. He did keep her caged in his arms and pinned under him so she could barely move, but after a few minutes of her scratching and biting him he relented — feigning weakness — and let her shove him over onto his back and clamber on top of him, watching her face framed by the galaxy and faintly illuminated by the starlight reflected on the pond. 

She was furious.

She didn’t even tease him back. 

She just grabbed him and sat on him with a triumphant grunt, pinned him down by his wrists, then rode him hard and fast into oblivion. 

The bitch was back. 

***

They showed up early at the cantina and Maz laughed at them and made them a breakfast of green eggs and pink pig, and when Leia showed up and gaped at her son's bruised throat and swollen lip, she soon shut up when she saw his oblivious smile. Ben wanted to feel _wanted_. 

**

“So we’re going to Spintir. Who’s coming?”

Poe and Chewie raised their hands, but they were the only ones available. Leia and Finn had enough basic training to at least start their student’s path, and since most of them came with an artistic approach, Jedi training was almost irrelevant. Even Keelcali was staying at the school, finding balance for the first time in her life, smiling and laughing with the others, and that made Ben’s heart swell with joy. 

Bolvuss Mearhaks was quiet, listening intently to what his crystal was singing to him, the thing glowing faintly in his upturned palm. He caught Ben looking at him and gave him a small smile, and silently pointed to Ben’s hip, where the Ren saber was hooked. He didn’t say anything and turned his face to smile back at his Kyber in rapt attention. It looked like love.

Ben was reminded of the promise he’d made two years ago. 

Once he healed his Kyber crystal, there would be nothing left of Kylo Ren but the scars on his body and in his soul. So he put it off. 

Maz interrupted their breakfast and presented them with a client for their trip, to help cover their costs and purpose. 

A small shipment,

half for a rich house on Spintir, half for a professor of natural history. 

Two mating pairs of convor, and one lone chick that was neither’s. 

The trip would take at least three days, with their bleeding-edge hyper-drive and the clear hyperlane routes they would take to get there. So a week for the round trip. 

Once there however, the rest of their journey through the metaphysical World between World to reach the Bendu was anyone's guess. It could be instantaneous, like it could be days, or even weeks. The Solo Dyad hoped their exceptional connection to the Force would help smooth their voyage some. 

As they packed and got ready for the trip, most of the students came to see the mythical Dyad. Some had heard of the transformation of the First Order, and had come to see the Terrible Kylo Ren, in his current, happier form. Some came to see the Virgin Rey — and she scoffed at that, telling them she had _married_ the Ren, and they would not receive the spartan Jedi training they had heard legends of. 

They would learn that there _is_ emotion, that emotions can run deep and high, and they would learn how to control — to use — their emotions for creative outlets. 

Some of the students were dressed as if they came from wealthy families. Others were dressed as if they had _no_ families, or had been cast out. They were shy and awkward and too skinny and it was obvious they had been _rescued_ by the school. 

Ben and Rey Solo looked at each other and nodded. They knew how the wounds would run deep with those ones, how insecure they would be, and how resilient. They also knew how the privileged would be arrogant _and_ insecure. 

Maybe having to take care of the abandoned, the corrupted and the abused was Leia’s karma. Until the Dyad came back and took over. 

A few other trading clients — including Maz, who liked a peculiar variety of hot pepper that only grew on Arda — took advantage of the route the crew had traced and more crates were loaded. A young apprentice — Ada, who showed promise as a healer — brought a hand-woven basket of mice and critters for the convor. When the other kids saw her, they all ran to get more and Chewie grunted to hurry the kriff up before they were overrun with wildlife again — like on the _other_ ship. 

Now the trip was certain to last over a week. They would make for the Corellian Trade Spine via the Great Gran Run from Takodana, then take the Permilian Trade Route to where it branched off onto the Salin Corridor. After that, a few paths could take them to Spintir. 

“Do we stop to pick up Maz’s peppers first?” asked Poe. 

“We get to Spintir first, before all the other trips,” decided Rey. 

Everyone hugged and the _Dragon’s_ ramp closed and the Crew made for the Great Gran Run. 

***

“The Bendu died — or at least disappeared — during the Battle of Attolon, in 2 BBY,” related Ben to Poe and Chewbacca.

Poe blinked. Chewie shrugged. 

“You’re saying you’re going to a place… in time?” Poe asked, a little shaken. The Force-users hinted at a whole other galaxy, parallel to the one he and the rest of the mortal merely lived in. 

"‘ _What senses do we lack, that we cannot hear or see a world around us?_ ’" he quipped. He’d read that question in a religious book he’d found on his travels and felt like the quote was appropriate today. 

Rey and Chewie had been playing a game of “Seedlings” they both knew from their homes, though they had to agree on the rules first. A simple game of pebbles (or oversized seeds for the rich) and two rows of hollows dug in the ground or sand; its main rule was to distribute a handful of seeds around the rows and then collect the dints filled with a fixed amount of seed. Chewie had a portable version of the game, carved from red wood and with real seeds, and Rey was only too happy to play such a version that seemed a luxury compared to the holes-in-the-ground-and-rocks versions she’s played when she had been living in Plutt’s compound with the other waifs. 

She was winning too, and that made Chewie a little cross at the loss of his favorite game table aboard the _Millennium Falcon_ , now part of a Nebula in the very center of the Galaxy. 

Instead of the Dejarik table, they had added a library of books, and a treadmill for Rey — and Ben and Poe (Chewie’s knees were starting to hurt) — to help keep them all from getting cabin fever. There was enough space in the second cargo bay for the mill and to practice dancing as well, and Ben showed Poe some steps he then practiced with Rey (Chewie’s knees weren’t much for dancing either, apparently). The wookie and Rey took care of the convor, calling the fledgling ‘Coco’, feeding and taming the birds as best as they could. 

Ben was sure they were also keeping a tally of the mice and other critters that they had brought on board the Dragon to feed the carnivorous birds, to make sure none of them had escaped and was chewing on some crucial wire somewhere out of sight, which could leave them without heating, water or air or stranded in space. Rey was quick to fix the wicker baskets, that was sure, but she mostly studied her engineering manuals, trying to formulate a curriculum for the ‘Engineering-for-the-Force-sensitive’ classes she would eventually teach. 

With Ben’s drawing skills and experience with lightsaber construction, they were coming up with a kind of multi-tool powered by a Kyber crystal… that could help diagnose and Force-fix electronics on a ship… a kind of … sonic Force-screwdriver of sorts. 

Three days of dice-playing, studying, comparing youths — not too deeply — and studying... and cleaning the convor cages; and they made their approach for beautiful, green Spintir’s capital city: Reles.

Finding the clients for the Convor birds was easy: one was a rich House patriarch who was offering a mating pair for his son’s wedding as a gift to the bride. 

The other was a xenobiologist who wanted a pair for the _Jardin Zoologique_ at the University. 

As for the fledgling… no one had ordered it. It had just been captured with the others, the trader probably thinking it would sell in the open air market. 

The thing being at the ugly stage of molting, it would probably not sell for a few weeks so they offered it to the xenobiologist, who accepted to keep it for a few days, while the crew was on their intriguing “quest”.

As they left, ‘Coco’ crooned at them, and Rey almost turned back… and all the men pretty much knew what that meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can someone tell me if the Mature tag is still relevant, or should I change it up to explicit ?


	15. The Dawn Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a door in the eastern archive room. It was a hidden door, but they had found it. Chewie and Rey moved it, Ben still carrying his caf mug in one hand. Ben enjoyed his morning caf maybe better than most people, dark and sweet. A roughly hewn corridor took them where they needed to go: the holocron chamber.

They filled their packs with five days of rations and kit, and left early in the morning for the Dawn Temple on Mount Tellec. The trek up the steep mountain incline gave them plenty of time for meditation, and Ben having found the purpose for the retreat, he was more or less enthusiastic for it. 

“It was a ‘ _fallen Jedi rehabilitation camp_ ,’ he explained, “which means that if it had been active at the time of my… struggles, I would have been sent there for sure. Not that it would have done any good.”

Not with Snoke actively interfering with his development. Ben would probably have been put in stasis… and remained in that state. The thought made him shudder… until he remembered how he’d suffered under Snoke. He squeezed Rey's hand a little tighter. Passion had lost him… and Passion had saved him.

Rey had been so taken up by her engineering studies in the past two years, and then by her Dark Side studies — she could admit that now — in the past six months that she had interested herself very little for the actual history of the Jedi. She had, until now, relied on Ben’s knowledge, but she had not delved so much into the _mystique_. 

Now as they climbed towards an abandoned temple, hoping it would guide them to the Caves of Light and Shadow, she tried to imagine an organisation as powerful as the Jedi Order, or as the Empire. The First Order had been the biggest organisation in her lifetime and its influence on her homeworld of Jakku had been limited at best. The Empire’s ruins from the “Battle of Jakku”, as important as it was in history books, were no more but a cluster of long-dead wreckage. It was a testament to past struggles, but in her day to day life, these Galactic forces had been invisible. 

Ben had told her once of Luke and Lor San Tekka and him stopping on Jakku on their way to somewhere else, and he sometimes wondered what would have happened had they found her then. Would she have followed them to the new Jedi Academy? Would Ben still have turned if he’d been in contact with his Dyad in his teens? Would their love still have happened if they had grown up almost like siblings ? 

And sometimes she imagined that Lor Tekka had hidden there for years, watching over her, like Obi-wan Kenobi had guarded Luke in secret. 

Had that old man waited for the right time to give _her_ the map? What would she have done with it ?

As they neared the scarp the temple had been built upon, the temperature cooled and Ben gave her more and more of his clothes to wear; his gloves, his cloak, his cowl, to a point Rey joked he was just getting her to carry his stuff though she was still unused to below-freezing temperature. Nightime on Jakku was spent shivering in her fallen Walker, curled up in as many blankets as she could scrounge, sometimes with the little oven on in what passed for winter on the desert planet. Now walking in the blinding light reflected off snow drifting like white sand she missed her goggles, and covered her head with the cowl, wondering how her husband managed to keep warm, knowing it was another ability she should badger him into teaching her. 

Chewie complained about the cold, and that was another crazy thing about the fur-covered giant she didn’t understand. Then Poe clapped his hands together and broke into song, Ben joined in and Chewie added vocals to beat the time. Escorted by three men of her newfound family, Rey skipped ahead, dancing and whirling the red-lined cloak around, tapping her feet to the beat and joining in the chorus once she caught it. 

They made it to the top just as the sun set and the wind picked up. Just as with many things Jedi, entering the temple had to be earned, and landing nearer the entrance had been deemed too risky. The landing pad was narrow and up against a sheer cliff that was topped with an overhang of snow that Chewie was certain would crash on top of the _Dragon_ and bury it in enough snow they would actually have to shovel their way out of it.

The wind was bitter and snow had drifted to the east of the compound, leaving the west dry and grey. The temple itself looked raw and grey, the stone barely hewed into a roughly truncated pyramid. They ran to the huge wooden doors to find them shut tight. The doors looked warped, probably from repeated cycles of frost and thaw; they were so swollen the stone barely contained them. 

Poe looked at a shivering Chewbacca and announced they would walk around to find another way in, while Ben put his hands on the door to feel for some ice wedge he could thaw. 

Rey put her hands on the door if only to feel the way Ben was working the Force, then joined in when she did. “So this is how you keep warm. I guess this is one way of learning it.” 

“I was certain your temper was enough to keep you warm,” he teased. 

“Haha. This is so close to healing, and to making light. I wonder how the Jedi could forget how to heal.”

“The Jedi became very selfish by the end. And my uncle was pretty much self-taught.”

Even with their combined effort they seemed to be making little progress. Ice thawed, water trickled to their feet and froze again before the door. When they heard Chewie’s call, Ben was angrily considering blowing the doors straight off their hinges. 

They stopped and made their way to where the two men waited for them. 

“That’s a narrow, dark tunnel,” Rey spoke the obvious, looking at the rounded opening just below the west side of the temple

“Right. You go first,” said Ben, and Rey gave him a dirty look. She made Light in her hand, then thought of something.

She handed it to Chewie. “You’re the tallest one here… just hold it over our heads and that way we can all see where we're going.”

Chewie made some cooing sounds and delicately accepted the light mote in his huge hand. 

“<It’s barely warm!>” he exclaimed, surprised. Then he raised it high and they started up the twisting path. 

The tunnel floor was dry with patches of ice, but ripple patterns on the surface of the coarse sand made it look like it might serve as a runnel during the wet season. Their footsteps crunched loudly, the air was dry, reeking of animal detritus. Tiny pawprints dotted a track along the right side of the way. They were suddenly reminded of rat-like creatures swarming the team in the Remnicore. 

At the end there was a locked grate, rusted enough to easily cut through with a lightsaber, and Ben was first to whip his out, making Poe laugh out loud.

“Missing the old days, Ben?” he quipped, and Ben just shrugged as he cut through the rusted lock. 

They came up a stairway at the other end of a ransacked storage cellar, and once inside the temple proper Rey and Ben both made light and pushed them high up near the vaulted ceiling and they all saw color and light and that Jedi architecture that many temples had in common. Rich sand-yellow and bright orange colored curved passages and vaults, so different from the austere grey cubic form of the outside. There was some dormant growth here and there, stating the summers were warm and humid, and the high-arched windows were dark now, but it was easy to imagine how the light would come in in the day cycle. 

As they walked further into the center of the building, they passed the antechamber where they could see the entrance door from the other side, a huge wooden beam keeping it locked, rim ice all around giving them an idea of what they had been up against from the other side. 

“<We should camp now,>” the wookie said, and after a careful inspection of the area, they decided on a defensible room, established a safety perimeter and set-up camp. 

Once the lanterns were lit, and as the little stove dispelled the cold, the place became more welcoming and they relaxed into making supper and resting. Guard duty was called, and after a few games of dice or Seedlings — Rey still beating everyone hands down — three of them settled down into their sleeping bags. Rey had first watch. 

**

 _*This is a place we never made it to,*_ Luke spoke softly so as not to startle her. He coalesced slowly into a visible form and she nodded at him.

“Ben told me you'd prepared the voyage, but things fell apart not long before you were supposed to go.”

“They did. There should be a few holocrons in a dedicated room. I thought maybe they held information that could guide me, help me deal with Ben.”

“Ben needed Snoke to be dead. A holocron couldn’t have helped him.”

Luke said nothing for a while, then:

“I did fight Snoke, once. I still can’t believe I survived. I injured him pretty badly, but he used lightning on me, and it was just as bad as the first time I was hit by lightning. Worse. Rey-” the Last Jedi Master added shamefacedly, “the truth is, I was afraid to face him again. I was afraid for Ben, for all those kids. I didn’t believe that, together, all of us, we could defeat him…” he trailed off, the look of someone revisiting a scene in his head and knowing they’d made the wrong decision clear on his face. “I doubted Ben,” he finished. 

“You also doubted yourself,” the young woman softly added. 

After a little while, she asked: “why do we have to meet this Bendu?”

“Because he is “The One in the Middle”. After the Mortis Gods, he’s the best-suited one to help you find balance.”

“I see you, and a few other Jedi. Are there no Sith Force-Ghost ? Wouldn’t _they_ have wisdom to impart?” 

“This... state — for lack of a better word — is a gift. The closest you can have to a Sith master here is Anakin Skywalker. And Ben of course.”

“And Ben, of course,” she repeated. They did not often speak of his past. 

“And now, you have wisdom of your own,” added the old Jedi for good measure. “How do you feel about that?” 

Rey cast her eyes down, embarrassed. “Ben forgave me,” she said in a tiny voice. 

“Like you forgave him.” 

“Like I… it’s not the same.” She had defiled their sacred union. He had killed people she hadn’t even known. She hadn’t known well. “He did those things under compulsion.”

“True he had very little control over his actions. He thought he was doing the “right thing” by destroying an order that had abused its power. Of course, he was a few dozens years late for that, but I suspect Snoke was feeding him past resentment. He’d failed Jedi school, you know. And he had a grudge against the Skywalkers in particular.”

“Snoke failed Jedi school?” Was this all just a schoolyard fight ?

“As for you… Why _did_ you do… those things ?”

“To free the slaves.” It was a _good_ reason. But the _things_ she’d done: the killing, the _pleasure_. 

“I daresay you had no more pleasure than he did,” Luke said, picking up on her unvoiced thought. “Your reasons certainly are more valid. And Rey, he _did_ forgive you. Forgive yourself. The Dark Side is _fire_.” 

“I will, Master Luke.” She turned to give the old man a wan smile but he disappeared. 

Her watch ended and she woke Chewbacca, played a quiet game of Seedlings with him, then snuggled into her husband's blankets. He was sleeping that deep sleep like he was dead to the world, not-quite-snoring, and she remembered his insomnia and nightmares. He was almost peaceful now. As she watched him, he turned to her and pulled her close, and sighed into her hair. It was a deep, contented sigh and it told her much about what she meant to him. What she still meant. 

**

The smell of Dark-roasted caf woke the three remaining sleepers, while Ben hummed to himself, doing the best he could with the breakfast rations. Under his care, the stuff almost looked and smelled like real food. 

“Master Luke visited me last night,” she told Ben while they were packing. “We spoke a while. Did you get any company?”

“Yoda, just as I got up.” Ben was always reverent when he spoke of Yoda. It was an honor for him to be able to hear from the Grand Master himself, when he’d thought himself to be too far gone to ever be worth teaching again. But, just like Anakin, he’d been saved. Unlike Anakin, he had a life before him still. 

_Grandfather, I will finish what you started._ Kylo Ren thought that meant to rule the galaxy… but looking into Rey’s eyes, Ben knew it meant so much more than just that. 

“Yoda was… subdued?” Ben continued, still surprised by the early morning’s humility. “He told me he was still learning, and he was looking forward to our trip together. Then we spoke of this temple, what it was used for. He said it was hard to keep the balance. That he himself had failed.” Here Ben paused as if in awe. “He’d failed over centuries.”

Windows they hadn’t seen from the outside were finally filling with light as they made their way to the Assembly Hall, where a huge fountain trickled a cold stream of pure water that Ben had used to brew the caf. Parts of the temple had caved in, walls crumbled into impassable piles of rocks, whatever those rooms had contained crushed under their weight. In some places, snow had poured in, reaching almost to the breached ceiling. 

The Archives were in two rooms either side of the Hall. Rotten books filled the broken shelves. The data console had corroded into a rusted mess, whatever had powered it had been pillaged ages ago. 

“Damn scavengers,” swore Poe, and Rey elbowed him in the ribs. 

The pilot had looked at them sleeping for a while during his watch; the way they fit together, the way Ben Solo protected her while he allowed himself to be vulnerable, with them, with his _crew_. The way Rey was his very center of gravity like she had taken up residence inside that dark shell and simply turned up the dimming Light in Leia’s son. 

It had required her acknowledging Darkness to do so. Her acceptance of that strength, that passion, had forced the whole galaxy to accept it as well. It was what was done with that darker strength that was the challenge. 

She had challenged him as well, and it still sometimes troubled him. Hadn't he given some of his own life for her, for Ben ? He wondered now if that act should have been acknowledged. It had felt like a very intimate thing to do, and he had decided against telling her, telling anyone. Ben had agreed, feeling embarrassed himself at having used that life-draining ability, even if only to pass Poe's life-force to Rey. 

Two years later, it felt like the time for taking credit had passed and would only seem like boasting. She had not tried to bend him to her will again, not after that evening of “experimentation” she had just lived. Survived.

He looked at them again. These people were like Gods, only living like ordinary people because they agreed to, when they could break all the rules and it would take immense ressources to do anything about it. It had taken immense _love_ to bring them under control. 

And when Poe’s watch was done, he’d woken Kylo Ren and let him watch over him. And slept soundly. 

**

There was a door in the eastern archive room. It was a hidden door, but they had found it. Chewie and Rey opened it, Ben still carrying his caf mug in one hand. Ben enjoyed his morning caf maybe better than most people, dark and sweet. A roughly hewn corridor took them where they needed to go: the holocron chamber. 

It was still a relatively clean chamber. The passageway split and veered away further down; they would investigate it if they didn’t find the information they needed here. 

As they walked in, muted lights came on, and an empty pedestal at the end served as a receptacle and a projector for whichever holocron they chose of the three on the narrow table before it. They were identified: there was the _Curator_ , the _Jailor_ , and the _Warden_. 

The Curator took the silvery-blue form of an elderly Cerean male wearing simple Jedi robes. He was designed to run the day-to-day management of the temple, and oversee the temple's records and archives. The Warden took the form of a female Zabrak, and was created to oversee the defense of the temple, external or internal, but also contained combat training routines, and the method to construct a lightsaber. She appeared to be made of golden light, had a top knot protruding from a crown of horns, and wore armored Jedi robes with a lightsaber. The Jailor was made of pure, white light, and took the appearance of a short elderly Miraluka male. He was designed to oversee the rehabilitation of the fallen Jedi and could override the commands of the other two bits of intelligence. 

After briefly consulting the first two, they settled down for a more profound study of the third one: the Jailor. 

*

“Well, it’s essentially brainwashing, isn’t it?” Poe said after about twenty minutes of _exposé_ on why the Light was good and the Dark was bad. 

“There is some interesting knowledge about using Darkside abilities and the risk of cutting oneself off _completely_ from the Light,” mused Ben. A shiver suddenly ran through him, causing him to softly gasp. They looked at him. _How close had he come to that state_? And yet...

“No matter how I tried…” he trailed off. The Light was like a stubborn weed, it always grew back. 

_*Like a desert flower.*_ The thought hung in the air a moment. 

The Dyad had saved Ben Solo. 

_*But what did you get in exchange?*_ He wondered at his role in corrupting Rey of Jakku. He was certain he had seeded her darkness when the Force had bonded them... when he had cried out in rage and become Kylo Ren, ten years ago. 

_*Jakku was harsh. I may not have survived had I not been so... angry. And there were other things. You know them.*_

The holocron had continued its lecture in a monotone drone while they pondered, not for the first time, at the depth of their connection. 

“<The Caves!>” whined Chewie, and they turned their attention back to the blue-white image.

“... the Vergence in the Caves of Light and Shadow seems to have lost its balance and tipped towards the Dark Side. We have closed them off for the moment, but we are investigating the matter. Master Qui-Gon Jinn thinks it may be linked with the work we do here...” 

A set of coordinates indicated the Caves entrance, further north. They had the information they needed. 

Rey plucked the “Jailer” from the projector and put all three holocrons in her bag. Poe interfered : “Whoa, you can’t just take those!”

“Why not?”

“They’re Jedi artifacts, they belong here.”

Ben smirked: “In case the Jedi come back?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Descriptions of the Holocrons from wookipedia: (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Dawn_Temple)


	16. The Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They set out as soon as Ben finished his caf.

Back in the rough-hewn corridor, they felt a breeze coming from the other end of the tunnel so they took it. It led them outside, to a snow-covered terrasse on the east side they hadn’t seen on their way in. It was a bit of a drop to reach the plaza, the men climbing down with ropes, the Dyad leaping down with a flourish that once again reminded the others of their supernatural abilities. 

The journey back to their light freighter took less time than the trek up to the temple, a threatening snowstorm quickening their step. Still, it had begun to snow by the time they reached it and they were covered in the white powder, Rey laughing in delight until her feet got cold. Inside the _Dragon_ it was warm and Chewie set himself near a heater to dry himself, Ben toweling him off to get the damp — and the smell — out as much as he could. 

Childhood memories rose up. Trips to the lake, swimming or clinging to the big male’s back, and being carried along as the wookie swam in the bay up to the little inlet river where the water was too cold to stay in. Sitting in the sun while they dried off, telling tall tales until his mother called them out on them.

For years, Snoke had tainted those memories, giving them black and blue colors of rejection and _ennui_ , and over the past two years they had become bright again. His desert flower had brought the Jakku sun into his life, and it had burned away the dark fog of Snoke’s spell. 

“Do we want to go today? Right away?” asked Rey, for whom the prospect of climbing into dark caves of ice was half-exciting, half-dreadful. Especially when she saw Chewie try on extra extra large size ice boots. They could go back to the city Reles, relax and visit the market, see how Coco the Convor was doing.

Ben was the one most excited for the meeting with the Bendu. The past weeks of meditation in the Temple in the Grassy Fields had also helped him find his center, and the ethereal place had been a refuge in the trial hours of that fateful evening when he let — accepted and witnessed — Rey delve into the Darkside. 

Poe and Chewie weren’t quite certain what they were getting themselves into; it was starting to look like long hours of waiting in those caves, freezing before a portal to a place where they could not follow. Chances were some creatures lived there; dangerous creatures. 

The packs were already made; they added extra gabal socks and Bantha wool blankets, water, fuel for the lanterns and stoves, and batteries for their comms devices. 

Though it was far from a blizzard, visibility was impaired by the weather, and they flew the Dragon carefully by instruments; they found a large enough clearing about a kilometre from their destination and landed there.

The storm lasted most of the afternoon and into the night, so before the sun set, the boys lured Rey out to show her how to make a snowman, then all of them got into a snowball fight. It was a wonderful time in their lives right now, free from the pressures of the Slaver hunts, not yet weighed down with the responsibilities of running the School for the Force-gifted. When they clambered back into the ship everything was soaked and now Chewie had to shower for real and dry while Ben and Rey locked themselves in their cabin, frozen toes and fingers demanding immediate attention. 

*

When the Dyad came back out, Poe was still drying a half fluffy Wookie, rolling his shoulders like his upraised arm ached. They took turns, ending with Ben this time brushing the areas Chewie couldn't reach, to keep the thick fur from matting and forming painful lumps. 

Poe and Rey were in the galley, concocting a supper that would warm them up in spicy aromas, speculating on Leia’s ability to control a class of unruly kids; would Finn’s military upbringing help or hinder their efforts? After supper and a few games, they all fell silent. Something out there was howling.

*

In the night, Ben woke in the windblown temple again and he immediately sought out the Bendu. He found him just outside, gradually appearing as if from a fog, or like he was the fog himself solidifying into a visible form, illuminated by the last rays of the sunset, or maybe the first rays of sunrise, Ben couldn’t tell. 

_*Do you know what you seek yet, Skywalker heir?*_

_*I seek balance, Bendu. For myself, for my wife, for the children at the school.*_

_“And what do you call balance?”_ The huge creature towered over him, yet moved gently, as if careful not to crush a fragile flower.

“Peace? I suppose?” 

“Peace is boring and conflict is painful. Preventing war means you will never know peace for yourself, but be forever in the motion to attain it.”

“Is that different from the Jedi mission?”

“Sometimes, you will fail. Then, you will try again.” He paused. “How is the young woman?”

“She’s found her spark again.”

The Bendu raised an eyebrow at that, and Ben felt his ears warm. 

“Just as I said: Peace is boring. Death is peaceful. Life happens between peace and conflict.”

“Bendu... how will we find you ?”

“I will meet you halfway. But you must find the right door.”

**

In the morning, Ben brought out and looked at Luke’s compass. It fit comfortably in his hand, a palm-sized, round silvery-metal box. A Jedi artifact Luke had asked him to study in the weeks leading up to the confrontation that had ultimately destroyed most of the temple and set him on his path to become Kylo Ren. He had found the object again in Luke’s hut on Ahch-To, among other mementos gathered from the abandoned building. 

The cover was domed and pierced with tiny holes in precise locations along circular paths, and they lined up with a Force-sensitive mechanism inside, itself actuated by a supraluminite lodestone: a blue pearl with a luminescent heart. The new Jedi thought it to be attuned to hyperspace lanes, but they had never quite found the constellation of origin on the cover, even after hours of poring over star maps. Without a reference, it was useless. 

Now it seemed the design engraved upon the cover was not hyperlanes after all. Had Luke used it to find Ahch-to? Was it a compass to find vergences instead? Where vergences portals into the World Between Worlds? That was what the long dead Masters had hinted at before, and confirmed in the last few days. 

A compass for the World between Worlds. If they could make it work. 

**

They set out as soon as Ben finished his caf. 

Rey moved through the fresh snow with some difficulty, grumbling something about fluffy sand dunes, but she was better dressed, so the cold didn't get to her. The sky was still overcast, and it seemed as if the sky and the ground were all the same, bisected by a line of scrawny tree trunks like Ben’s short beard. Then they crossed into the forest and everything became quiet. For a while, all they could hear was their own breath. 

Then they started to hear them. The Ice Wolves. 

“How far are we from the entrance?” murmured Poe, looking to the East where the calls were coming from.

“Only half a click,” answered Ben, looking at the compass in his hand; it pulsed slightly. “Chewie, you think you can make it if we have to run?”

The wookie nodded: “<At least it will warm me up!>” 

They picked up the pace, entering deeper woods where they had to weave through the thin but numerous trees. 

A yelp went up, followed by another call. Followed by an answering howl, far but in the direction they were going. 

Chewie lifted his head and inhaled deeply. “<This way,>” he told them, and they all ran behind him. The big wookie had picked up an animal trail that led towards the Caves, the snow packed by use, though a layer of fresh fall hid it from view. They followed it quickly, silent as they listened to the lupine communications. 

From the East, a lone animal finally burst through and they saw one of the creatures they would fight if they didn’t make it to the Caves soon. 

It was no bigger than a man, just a scout, and it stared at them for a moment before raising its head to signal its brethren. 

Its call abruptly cut off. Rey was holding it by the throat in a Force-hold. The men looked at her: waiting to see what she would do. She was calm. 

“Kill it,” said Ben, and waited. 

Rey struggled. The creature she held was beautiful: short nosed and short eared, it was covered in long fur in many shades of bluish white. Its mane and tail were covered in wicked-looking spikes. 

Chewie growled at Rey. There was no time, more howling and yapping was nearing them. 

“Rey, stun it or kill it, but hurry!” Ben urged.

“C’mon, Rey, we gotta move _now_.” Poe was looking around, blaster out, ready to shoot the thing, but wary of how it would affect the fiery woman’s temper. 

The distant howls nearer the caves were getting closer, threatening to cut them off and encircle them. Chewbacca moved close, ready to pick up the Scavenger and run with her while the men took care of the wolf. 

Rey twisted her face into a frightening scowl, and the creature fell limp in her grasp. She dropped it, then bent over to catch her breath for a moment before nodding, and they started running again. 

Poe looked at Ben, who closed his eyes and sighed a relief before nodding back. Her control had much improved: the beautiful creature would live. 

They couldn’t tell how many were coming for them, but soon the air was filled with howls and barks turning to growls and the pack broke through the trees, racing towards them to encircle and cut them off. Ben managed to Force-push a few into trees, while Dameron and Chewie shot at them reflexively, hitting the closer ones, clearing the path ahead, barely avoiding the snapping jaws that threatened to snag a cloak or sever a hamstring. 

Then they broke into a small clearing and the rabid cries turned to whines and yaps. 

In the ground before them was a deep, frost-rimmed hole. 

There was a moment's silence — unnatural after the deafening clamor of the minutes before. One Icewolf finally lifted its head and let out a sharp bark, almost like a short laugh, and turned back to the forest. After a moment, some followed, then more, until they were all gone. 

Catching their breath in great gulps of air, the _Dragon’s_ crew looked around them, bewildered, before turning their attention back to the darkness just ahead. 

*

“<Fools rush in…>” said Chewie as he stared down into the abyss. They all stared down, wary of the frost where the sides appeared slick. The faintly sulphurous air over the hole was humid and warmer than the ambient air: the caves were probably close to some thermal source. 

There was a subsonic throbbing as well, a pulse, and the Solos were both reminded of the Cave of Mirrors of Ahch-To. It called to them. To the others it was just spooky and stank faintly of rotten eggs.

They could see the remnants of a lift mechanism that had rusted and broken down. Some of the stone around the opening had fallen in. The seal had broken.

Then the furry giant added: “<I think this thick root will serve as a proper anchor. We need to know how deep this is, Rey,>” and he looked at the Light-Bringer.

“Please tell me there’s not another underground lake,” she said as she made a mote of Light in her hand and sent it gently floating down. 

Poe threw a stick in and they heard it clatter against the sides and finally hit bottom. No water then. 

“What? Whatever is in there, we are _not_ going to surprise it,” he shrugged, and they had to agree. They followed the light as far as they could see, seeing the shaft kept its diameter most of the way before opening up about twenty meters down. The sides were sometimes moss covered, sometimes frost covered; Chewie grunted in anticipation.

They tied the thick silk rope securely to the frozen tree root the wookie had spotted, then Rey made another Light mote and sent it down. After a moment, Ben made one too, a sky-blue one, and one by one they climbed down. 

At the bottom, they found the ground to be squelchy and filled with bones of all sizes and shapes. Things fell in here, and other things ate them. There were a few fresh corpses too. At least one was of an unlucky icewolf, a youth by its size, probably lured by whatever song the Caves sang that the sentients could only guess at. Ben let the wisp dim out, he was getting better at maintaining Light, but it still took effort he wanted to expend on sharpening his senses instead. He sought and took Rey’s hand in his and they both closed their eyes; everyone stood silently while the Force-users probed as far their Force-heightened senses could reach. 

Suddenly Rey’s eyes popped open, and Ben shortly after that. “Ah,” he said, “You’re going to enjoy this, Poe. Chewie maybe not so much, you weren’t there.” He looked at Poe. “Remember in the tunnels on Remnicore, the Sith Spawn?”

“Ugh. Yeah I remember. Let me guess… there’s some in here?”

“Not quite Sith spawn, but the “Jailer” holocron did mention Force imbalance. The creatures we encounter in here have been… corrupted by the Dark side.” He said with a wry smile. Rey scowled. Chewie and Poe both heaved a sigh and readied their weapons. 


	17. The Caves of Light and Shadow

Poe lit a lantern, but kept it hooded. Ben made a new wisp, but tuned it to a deep red; he sent it floating ahead. The wookie cleared his nose, and once again used his instincts to feel out the path ahead. As they walked, the stink of the mucky ground beneath the opening lessened, and new smells wafted from the twisted tunnels ahead. They passed chambers, some having been intentionally carved with primitive tools, others half-caved in; in one, their light reflected on something and Rey moved to see what it was. 

The glimmer came from a tiny object embedded in the wall, about hip high. The men dismissed it as a trickle of water, but the Scavenger knew it was something solid, not ice, but a crystal — one that glowed and not just reflected the light. 

She touched it and something sparked to her finger. “Ben!” she called, “this is a Kyber crystal!” Ben walked to her and crouched down: “It looks like it... they must have missed one. Maybe more. This network of caves was mined for crystals ages ago.” 

They took a few minutes to pry it delicately from the node it had grown from. Ben looked at it, it appeared different from the kybers he had seen until now. Smoky. Rey put a finger to the cavity it left to feel down the ryzom-like structure for more. 

Spots of light appeared along the track she sensed in her mind. She shared the map with Ben, who nodded: “we’ll get them on the way back. If nothing else, this discovery alone will have been worth the trip.”

The deeper they progressed, the warmer the caves became, and eventually they heard, and sometimes saw, signs of underground life. Bioluminescent fungi grew along the way, in increasingly numerous clusters, until they eventually put out the lantern. Bugs crawled about, skittering underfoot. A few rodents darted away from them. 

There were side passages, most too small for the humanoids, so they kept to the main passage, a pulsing energy leading them on to their destination: hopefully a portal. Ben’s compass was itself pulsing quietly, the tiny dot of light just below the blue pearl’s surface keeping to one edge, in the direction they were heading, and he felt satisfied at knowing they had figured out how it worked at last. 

The passage increasingly reeked as they neared the opening of yet another cave, and they covered their noses. Rey reached into her pack and retrieved her trusty goggles while the others looked at her with envy — their eyes were starting to water. When they walked in, the first thing they noticed — after the horrid smell — was the light coming from an opening high up in the ceiling, casting a pale white ray that seemed like a godsend after an hour of grimy darkness. They moved forward, the squelchy ground explaining the stink. Then they noticed the murmur. 

It was a low drone, and as their eyes grew used to the change in light they realized they were standing in a grotto full of giant _bats_. 

Everyone immediately froze. 

The winged rodents were obviously still asleep. They were most probably hibernating as well. The question was… could the crew cross the cavern without waking them ? If they did wake them… what kind of bats were they? Fruit bats? Insectivores? Blood-sucking carnivores ?

Rey reached for Ben’s hand and he took it and squeezed it. Poe reached for Chewie’s, and the big male almost snorted. 

“<They _are_ hibernating,>” the wookie whined as quietly as he could. They looked across the guano-covered floor to the far side where a tall passageway was visible; it seemed impossibly far. Rey moved first.

Every step caused ripples in the cover of dung-beetles that scattered away from her feet. Every step was a sickening crunch and squelch, until she brought her Light close to the ground and the critters fled in a susurration of grazing carapaces, clearing the slimy path ahead for her and the gang. Footing was still treacherous, and the idea of slipping and sliding in the viscous gunk made her gag; behind her, the men were barely holding it in and she quickened her pace slightly. 

They were no more than halfway across when they heard the call. 

It was a high-pitched yap, like a drop of water falling into a huge bassin, echoing like a question. 

They stilled as one. 

*That’s not a bat,* thought Ben. 

*I don’t care what it is. Can you hold it?*

There was another yap. Less inquisitive this time. More certain. Rey felt a tremor from inside the pocket where she had slipped the crystal. It had heard the call as well. A flood of beetles washed over their feet and Chewie hissed. 

The creature that had found them roared. 

*I can,* and Ben braced himself. 

Almost instantly, the cavern became a tempest of bat wings and rushing beetles. Rey grabbed Poe’s hand who grabbed Chewie’s hand who whined as Ben waved him away, urging them to safety. It was almost impossible to run so they rushed to where they guessed the exit must be. Super-sonic shrieks filled the cavern, to the point Rey felt certain her ears would bleed. Blindly they dashed, until they hit the cavern wall, then they split, scrabbling along until they found a narrow passage. When Chewie found it, he roared “<Here!>” and Rey and Poe turned back to find him. Once inside the passage, Rey threw up a Force-shield around them. 

Ben put up his own shield, and lit his crimson Light-saber, and readied himself for the coming combat. As the bats spiraled up and flew out of the cave, he saw the corrupted Icewolf advance into the strobing daylight. 

It was a fantastical, horrid creature _—_ the word _phantasmagorical_ popped into Ben’s mind.

Huge, hairless except where the spiked mane still clung, its eyes were blind-white and its skin was a translucent wash, the network of bluish veins clearly visible. It had huge dagger-sized canines in its gaping maw, a thick tongue clearly covered in razor sharp ridges — like a rasp. Saliva dripped from that maw: the thing was hungry. 

Adrenalin rushed into Ben’s blood, and he reached for the Dark, realizing he hadn’t needed the Force this way in quite some time, and struggling to hold it together. With immense effort, he brought the beast under his control. 

What should he do with it?

He heard Chewie’s roar, telling him they had found the way out. 

Should he back away to rejoin his friends and safety, then free it? 

Or should he kill it? Would that be a mercy?

Now that his friends were out of harm’s way… should he release it and fight it to the death? 

_*Ben?*_

He released the beast. 

The Force in his veins turned into an oily crimson tide as it rose in him from his center out into his limbs and up his torso, filling up his lungs and his senses with a rush of power he hadn’t let himself feel in what seemed like ages. 

The corrupted Icewolf shook its huge head before turning its blind eyes on him, focusing its other senses instead. Years of exposure to the preternatural presence of the Dark in these caves had warped it, making it endure pain and privation much longer than an ordinary creature would have, and it was that Darkness that the creature now recognized in Ben Solo, as it was offered an ultimate bargain: try to flee — and die a coward, or die fighting. 

The monster accepted the challenge with a roar so deep, the ground shook and the rest of the crew fell to their knees in shocked terror. Rey Solo pissed herself, then got up to rush to her Dyad’s side — but Chewie grabbed her arm and held her fast. 

“<Wait. Let him.>”

In the bright, sharp-edged circle of daylight, the Dark creatures revolved around each other, one promising death, the other promising deliverance, and once a full rotation was done, Ben gave it a solemn salute, roared his own human roar of challenge, and they rushed at each other. 

The Ice-wolf had sharp talons, and its tail still had some wicked spikes attached to it. Despite its age, it still moved with the animal grace and the reflexes of youth, tuned as it was to the immense Force energy Ben was expending in controlling the violent Force he had summoned. 

Ben had spent the last two years finally learning to curb his Dark Side to serve a greater cause, not giving in to wanton destruction or impotent rage. Indeed, he had learned to curb _Rey’s_ rage and not be swept away by it when she lost it. He had learned to fight carefully, mindful of his teammates and enemies alike. 

But here, now, was an occasion to destroy a creature twisted beyond return, a creature devoid of conscience beyond its own suffering and the hunger to kill and devour anything that fell to its power. 

Heat burned inside each as one swiped and the other parried, Ben with the Force, the Wolf with its whip-like tail that had cured to the stringy resilience of a tree root, lashing and threatening to either trip up the human, or stab him with its dagger-like spikes. A hit on the creature's shoulder left no mark, and Ben realised its hairless skin only looked vulnerable when in fact it was a leather as tough as any armor. 

It was a sight to watch the exchange of blows, and the two Dark-Force creatures looked to be an even match: Ben sometimes scoring a hit that maimed a paw, or punched a shallow wound through the leather, the Wolf sometimes managing to sweep Ben’s feet from under him and knocking his breath out, or his blade from his hand, causing Ben to scramble to put up a quick shield between them while he gathered himself again to continue the trial. 

As the remaining trio watched in fascination, they saw the shadow of Kylo Ren emerged again, the Warlord radiating and exulting in a Rage none of them had seen in a while, all of them having forgotten the once-monster some of them had fought for years and some had saved with the promise of love. Of friendship.

Rey was crying softly while her mate burned with the Dark fire, and both Poe and Chewie soothed her, watching their leader exhaust himself of pent-up frustration and rage, understanding the atavistic need to destroy things, just to make sure the killer instinct was still in there, still available and ready to commit violence, if only to protect those we love. 

After an hour both man and beast were half-fallen, half-kneeling in the gunk, each covered in shit and cuts and blood, barely moving, as if having a conversation no other creature could share, and yet any animal would immediately understand. Then, as if a common accord passed between them, Kylo Ren shakily raised himself up, staggered to the great creature panting at his feet, and delivered the killing blow. 

By some simple logic, one could say that Humanity had triumphed over the Beast. But each witness here had heard what the _Jailer_ holocron had said: that the Darkness they had sought to expunge from the ‘fallen’ Jedi had seeped into the Caves of Light and Shadow… and destroyed the balance. 

**

The disturbed bats were returning to their roosts when the crew of the _Dragon_ picked up their fallen Captain, now covered in blood and offal, and half-carried him out the back passage, further into the Caves. 

**

“This way.” 

Rey had picked up a lilting melody, and the air down the passage she chose was warm and moist, something telling her the Caves of Light and Shadow had to have some Light somewhere. They did.

The next few grottos were dotted with stepped thermal pools lit by an abundance of bioluminescent fungi. They brought Ben to one and the men stripped him of his slashed armor and filthy clothes and boots while Rey put together the little stove to heat up water for lunch and tea. She also rooted around her mate’s pack for some clean clothes and a washcloth. 

They eased the big man into the pool Rey had picked out — one in a little alcove — until Rey arrived carrying a hot bottle of honeyed drink, put it down on the floor beside the pool and started stripping to get in with her Dyad half. 

Surprised, the Pilot and the Smuggler picked up their gear and the little stove and found another cavelet to relax in. 

Rey spent the next half hour washing her man and healing his wounds, humming softly as she did. When he was mostly clean and seemed reasonably recovered, she let her head fall on his shoulder, her little breasts rubbing against the hard ridges of the whip lashes on his back. She traced a scar on his shoulder with her fingers, frowned, and Ben just had time to ask her what she was doing when she did it. 

She made one of his scars disappear. It was gone, hard ridge, residual pain, all gone. She reached for another and Ben turned to grasp her wrist. For a moment, he just held her, and she raised her face to look in his eyes. 

“Leave them,” he told her.

“No.”

“Those are Snoke’s scars. I have to remember them.”

“I know them. You won't forget them. I don’t want to see them anymore.” She took a breath: “I don’t want to feel them under my hands every time we make love.”

Ben almost scoffed at that, considering how she loved to leave him covered in lovebites, but he remained silent. His breath constricted in his chest. Remembered fear.

“But they are part of my path to power.” He sounded pleading.

“Your power is not in those scars. And I’m healing the one on your face, too.”

His grip on her wrist shook. “I love that scar.” 

“I know, I love it too. It has to go. You would do the same for me.”

“You would look great with a scar like that,” he said, and she almost laughed. Then she drove her point home: “Not if _you_ had put it there.”

He realized how far their relationship had come that she could no longer bear to feel the pain his last Master had left on him. She wanted to heal the wound _she_ had dealt him. It was time to let the past die, erase it. 

His grip loosened and she let her hand slide down into his. Then he tightened his grip, just shy of painfully and looked her in the eye again: “Let the bowcaster scar alone. I’m not ready to forget that pain.”

She nodded and he turned and put her hand on his shoulder. 

One by one, she lifted the marks from him, and it felt like he was coming out of his shell. He was reminded of finding a water-nymph that had crawled out of the river on one of his bug-hunts as a child, and watching in awe as the blue dragonfly emerged from its too-small, battered husk. When she made him turn around she straddled him gently, taking him within her as she continued her work, and he twined his fingers in hers. 

He watched her quietly, forever mystified at her patience and affection for him. When she was done he ran his hands over his skin and his face and felt like a boy again, and she cooed over how beautiful he was, so he lifted her out of the pool and laid her on her back onto the pile of dry clothes so he could worship her like one worships the Goddess, until she sang his name. 

Then she climbed back into the shallow pool with him and he let her take them to that place only they could share. 

Nested within Rey was all the love in the galaxy. 

**

The crew of the Dragon took a few hours to clean themselves up, eat, and rest. They let the Dyad rest the most, Ben exhausted from his battle with the beast, Rey from healing him of all his wounds, fresh and old. If there were other Dark-twisted creatures in the Caves, they chose to stay far away from the group.

**

The passage indicated by the compass led them a long, long corridor that progressively grew drier and of a lighter colored rock as they progressed. When they came to the end, a perfectly circular door blocked their way. It appeared carved precisely from some material smooth as glass, black as night yet sparsely peppered with tiny white starbursts, some kind of obsidian. Inlaid in a contrasting white stone — or maybe ivory from some fantastic wooly beast that inhabited the planet thousands of years ago — were symbols as ancient as the Jedi themselves. 

The compass indicated what they were seeking was right through this door.

They pushed against it, two at a time then all four at once: it did not budge. Rey considered blasting it open but Ben stopped her. Poe swore, Chewie whined, they Ben considered cutting through it with his saber and all three stopped him. So one by one, they sat down before it, the Dyad with Rey cross-legged in Ben’s lap, enclosed within his frame. They had grown close again, so close as to become almost indistinguishable.

The symbols on it were not completely incomprehensible: there were words and concepts that had traversed the winds of change. Words like Light and Dark, and Force of course, but also balance. And colors: blue, orange, red, green, yellow, purple, black and white. Other words. They stared at the round stone, its edge ringed with the ancient symbols inscribed within concentric circles. The center of the stone was a deep black left clear of symbols and it seemed strangely depthless, like the void. 

“This isn’t a door to the cave-room that contains the portal,” Rey said suddenly, “this _is_ the portal.”

The men stared at the round black stone before them. It looked like a ship's transparisteel porthole into space. 

Through it, they were staring into the World Between Worlds. 


	18. The World Between Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “For a moment pleased with his apprentice, the Master seemed.” Yoda inferred, “But what pleased Snoke was not Kylo’s success. It was his failures.”
> 
> Ben looked at him before continuing.

“How do you get through?” Poe asked. They stared at the door, dumbfounded. Unlike an airlock, there were no controls in a side panel. The symbolic writing was cryptic: if there were instructions, they couldn’t make them out. Ben and Rey ran their hand over the surface of the portal again, individually, then together, but the subtly pulsing stone had no secret latches or lever they could activate. 

After a few minutes, Chewie gave a few low grunts: “<Are you hoping to find a doorbell?>”

“We have to get in, the Bendu is expecting us,” Ben said, hovering between frustration and anxiety.

“<Exactly. You were invited. We are at the door. We wait.>” The wookie crouched down and rooted through his bags to take out his mat and the dice. Dameron started setting up the little stove for some hot tea. Ben and Rey stood around, still looking at the door. 

“<You might want to let them know you’re here, though.>”

“Right.” Rey sat down, dragging Ben down to sit with her. 

They went into a meditative trance.

It took a few minutes, long enough for Rey to regret not having taken time to take out her own mat to sit on, but she ignored the discomfort once the Bond with Ben opened and she reached for his hand in the metaphysical as well as the physical world. They touched fingers and there was a pulse, like a signal. 

Time passed.

“<Ah. Here comes someone.>” Chewbacca grunted in satisfaction.

The Bond winked out and the Solos opened their eyes to stare through the portal: sure enough, a patch of darkness moved towards them, growing as it did, though it remained short and squat. Ben gulped a breath. 

As it moved forward, they could see it walk along a path that seemed to hang in mid-air, or in the twinkling void of space, traced on each side by sharply-defined parallel lines that glowed a bright white. When the figure made it to the door, they saw it was Master Yoda.

Yoda said nothing, merely peered at them through the door, while all four of them got to their feet. They called to him to open the door, but he shook his head. Then he finally spoke:

“Who are you?”

It seemed formal introductions were in order. Ben introduce the crew of the _Dragon:_

“Master, I am Ben Solo. This is Rey Solo — ” he presented his mate with a hint of pride in his voice, “The wookie is Chewbacca. The human is Poe Dameron.”

“Yes, I know your names, young Solo. Now tell me: who _are_ you?”

“Who?” he thought for a moment. “We are the Smuggler, the Pilot, the Desert Flower and the Warlord.”

“Good. Better. I know Chewie and Poe. Now tell me, who are _you_?”

Ben felt discomfort, Rey twitched beside him, feeling it too. He looked at his wife, unsure.

Rey declared: “I am the Last Jedi.”

The little green man nodded. “Near the truth, we are.” He looked at Ben, who was also Kylo Ren. 

Ben added reluctantly: “I am the Jedi- _killer_.”

“Yes, yes.” He paused. “And _now_ , who are you?” and he waved a hand, encompassing them both.

“We are the Solo Dyad,” Rey said. 

“Prove it.”

“Prove it?” Ben was at a loss. How could they do that? They looked at their friends, who shrugged their shoulders until Poe thought of something.

“What can the Dyad do that know one else can?” he suggested helpfully. 

“The Bond,” the Solos answered together. 

They sat back down again, this time instinctively arranging themselves so they were back to back, straight, Rey’s head resting against the top of Ben’s shoulder and neck, leaving almost no space between them. Once again they opened the Bond and touched fingers. Then Ben had an idea and passed his black-hilted Lightsaber to Rey, who in turn passed her bronze Light-glaive. 

A memory passed between them, of when they defeated the Tor Valum, the Last Sith Master; what he had called them. 

“I am the Prime Jedi,” they spoke as one. 

As they spoke, the portal slowly started to rotate, the white inlaid stone beginning to glow brightly. The Dyad rose.

Chewie and Poe clasped hands with the Solos. “We have supplies for a few days. We can wait a couple here, but if you take longer we’ll wait in the ship.” Poe told them. “Comm us as soon as you can. By device or by… other means. Don’t dally.” Chewie whined a goodbye, Rey hugged both men, then they all hugged and turned to the glowing portal, a little green man staring through the glass-like surface, grinning. 

Rey and Ben picked up their bags, then Ben touched the surface, found it yielding, and passed through, holding Rey’s hand. 

*

From the other side of the door they could see their friends touching the glass then shaking their heads, and as they watched, the view became clouded. 

They turned around to take in their surroundings. 

They were not in a room. 

It looked like they were in outer space, but for the air in their lungs and the solid feel of a transparent walkway under their feet, delimited by those white lines that continued ahead and joined with others further out. They took a few tentative steps forward. Their steps boomed dully, as if on a soundboard, and each footfall sent a short ripple of concentric circles of light on the walkway, as if threading in a puddle of sound. They looked back at the now semi-opaque portal, turning like a wheel, but contained within a triangle much like the Dawn Temple it was connected to. Something told them they should memorize the design of icewolves and symbols ringing it. A particular symbol attracted their attention: a disk of two teardrops circling each other, one Light, one Shadow, each with a dot of the other in its center. 

“Ben. This is us.”

“It is what you are now.” Master Yoda walked ahead of them at a leisurely pace, and following their guide, they tried to make sense of their surroundings. 

They were walking towards the center of something, other paths converging to meet theirs, from doors to their left and their right, and each with a different design. The paths circumvented and intersected at odd angles; at a crossing they saw a path lead _up_ from theirs, and it was unsettling. 

Voices whispered to them. 

At the next crossing Rey’s knees buckled. She didn’t have vertigo but when she saw the path curve _down_ into the void, it was a bit much for her. The apparent absence of gravity — as if the path was the only thing keeping them from falling in, or floating up, into an endless void — almost gave her nausea. Ben held on to her, and she got the distinct feeling he was equally discomposed. 

The little green goblin walked down as if it was the most natural thing in the world to walk perpendicularly to…

To what ? Where was the horizon ?

Ben remembered a space walk he’d shared with his father, one of the Falcon’s system’s having failed seriously enough to warrant donning the enviro suits and exiting the freighter to fix it. Han had shown him how he could stand on any plane of the ship and decide _that_ was his horizon, making it a temporary plane of reference. He shared the memory with Rey. The shared experience helped her regain her balance.

“When we get back. We’ll go on spacewalks. I promise.” 

As they passed portals, the voices became distinct: 

_“The time to fight is now._ ” A woman’s voice.

 _“Oh no, my young Jedi. You will find that it is you who are mistaken, about a great many things.”_ A gravelly, disdainful one _._

_“Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.”_

“Did you say something?” Ben asked Master Yoda.

“What? Oh. Say something? I did. But not now.”

“I just heard you, you said ‘Luminous beings are we, not-’.

“I did, but that was a long time ago. On Dagobah.”

“On Dagobah? But, just now...”

Yoda pointed to the portal they were passing. They heard another voice.

 _“You want the impossible.”_ That was Luke’s voice. Ben looked around expecting the Force-ghost of his uncle to show up. Instead, the voice came from the portal. He walked towards it, Rey in tow, Yoda accompanying them.

The portal he stood in front of had cracks and what seemed like tears in it. The pane was still translucent, and through it, he could see a younger version of his uncle standing before Yoda and looking disconsolately at an x-wing half-submerged in a swamp and covered in jungle vegetation. 

_“I don’t believe it.”_

_“That... is why you fail.”_

Ben put his hand on one of the cracks, felt a rivulet of Darkness flow from it. He shivered as if from a cold draft across his shoulders. 

_“Always in motion, the future is.”_

Rey put her hand on another crack. “You were here.”

Ben Solo felt the sting of tears form behind his eyes. “I was. With Snoke.”

“Failed their Masters here, both students did. For a while, Luke lost his faith. Kylo failed Snoke, but Ben succeeded.”

Ben looked sharply at Yoda, frustration and humiliation building in him. He hissed through his teeth. “What does that even mean?” 

“Why is the portal broken, young Solo.”

Surprised, Ben asked: “ _I_ broke it? When I destroyed the Cave... I _broke_ it?”

“An extraordinary tale you must tell us.” Master Yoda plopped himself down, grinning in anticipation.

“Here? Now?” Ben looked bewilderedly at the ancient Jedi, a spurt of anger quickly fading. He sat in turn on the narrow path, then Rey sat with Yoda.

“Shortly after becoming Kylo Ren, Snoke decided I was due for some training. We were on some planet, and he first tested my trust in him.” It would be the first of many abuses, and Ben saw how he had accepted his destruction over the years. “ I passed that test, so he brought me to Dagobah, to face my fears.”

Snoke had constantly compared Kylo to Luke that day, taunting him into a rage. When he stepped into the Cave of Evil and the vision of Luke appeared, Kylo gladly fought him and cut him down. 

“For a moment pleased with his apprentice, the Master seemed.” Yoda inferred, “But what pleased Snoke was not Kylo’s success. It was his failures.”

Ben looked at him before continuing.

“So instead of leaving it at that, he pushed me into another test. I was to kill my parents.”

“What happened?” Rey asked, eyes wide, remembering Han’s death at his son’s hand.

“I couldn’t do it. So I cheated and destroyed the Cave instead. I failed.”

“You failed _Snoke_ . But you triumphed over the Darkness. _Ben Solo_ succeeded.” 

“It doesn't matter if I spared a vision then and killed my real father later!” 

“It does matter. How long did you resist? The most powerful Force-user in the Galaxy, that Darkside user was, after Luke went into hiding. How long did you resist? How many years?” 

“Resist?” Ben had never thought of it that way. He’d only felt like he’d given up to the Dark. “Ten years. More. I don’t know, I don’t remember when it started.” 

“All your life you resisted. He wore you down over _years_. Like Anakin.” 

“But then he broke me.”

“He _cracked_ you, Ben Solo. And then, come in, the Light did.” Both men looked at Rey, who was silently crying. 

They looked into the portal again in time to see Luke fly off after Master Yoda and Master Kenobi told him to let go of attachment and complete his training. 

Here, Yoda’s mien turned serious. “Put ourselves above attachment, we Jedi did. Tried to make ourselves separate from the people we thought to rule. Called it compassion, but it was arrogance. Fearing jealousy, we feigned insouciance.” Yoda got up again. “We feared love. We became indifferent.” 

“It was Luke’s love that saved his friends, his father. The galaxy.” Yoda looked at Ben, “It was the hope of love that saved you.”

Ben and Rey both thought back to those early days after their first meeting on Takodana. So much had happened: the kidnapping, the mental tug of war, the duel in the snow. The discussions during the first Bonds, the promises. The killing of Snoke. The second tug of war. 

Then the madness. Rey’s patient wait. The newfound freedom. The next Force Bonds. They both blushed. 

“Love,” The little green goblin insisted, “begins with oneself before it can be shared. Come, we have a ways to go, and I have to empty my bladder.” The two looked at the Force-ghost in shock, then around them in bewilderment. “Just kidding,” and he chuckled. 

As they moved forward and passed more portals, they heard more voices, some Ben thought he recognized, but most were unknown to Rey, who’d rarely had access to the holonet. 

_“Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.”_

_“Your focus determines your reality.”_

_“The Sith took everything from me. Ripped me from my mother’s arms, murdered my brother, used me as a weapon, and then cast me aside. Abandoned me. Once, I had power — now I have nothing.”_

_“Something inside me... has always been there, but now it’s awake._ ”

“Wait… that’s me!” Rey exclaimed. The symbol over this portal was a simplified version of the Mosaic in the First Jedi temple on Ahch-To. Pudgy birds flew around the portal’s edge, along with an abundance of narrow triangles and waves. Here too, the portal was cracked, a great split across its center. 

Ben hunched his shoulders, sheepish. Yoda pushed him forward. 

“That was over two years ago. And before... young Luke on Dagobah. These are moments in time?”

“Places and times, yes. We will be going to Atollon,” Yoda said.

“When?” asked the Dyad together, and Yoda responded: “Before the Battle of Yavin. A few months before the Battle of Atollon.” 

“What does the portal look like?” Rey asked, thinking of looking ahead to hopefully spot it first.

“Oh, it has lots of spiders running around it. Big ones.”

“Great.” 

*

Ben Solo walked behind, looking at the compass in his hand. The mechanism moved very slowly, while the blue bead’s white spot centered on top. “I thought it was made to work in here,” he said when Yoda asked him about it. 

“Hmmm. Maybe the right question you are not asking it .”

“Asking it. Of course.” He tried to think of a question. “But I don’t know where I’m going.”

“Yet. Ask it where you were, then.”

Ben closed his eyes and thought of their way out: the Caves on Spintir. With the Force, he shyly interrogated the silver compass. He saw the white dot spin a bit then settle in the center again. 

“It’s not working.” He showed Yoda, frowning. Yoda laughed. “It is working. But you forgot where the Portal is,” and the old man looked up, pointing. Ben looked up. Of course, it was up above them. Then he asked the compass about the First Jedi Temple. Sure enough, the milky spot in the blue pearl pointed behind them. 

_Luke searched for that temple for years_ , he thought. _Well, he found it another way, and now I know how this thing works._ To test it, he thought of the Bendu. The dot moved to the center. 

_Maybe it won’t show me people. That makes sense. People move, vergences don’t — or not as much. Wait, what did Yoda say?_ **_When_ ** _is the Bendu?_ He re-formulated his question: he knew where and when the Bendu was: on Atollon, before the Battle of that name. 

Sure enough, the dot aligned in the direction they were headed. He could find a particular vergence from inside the World between Worlds as well as from the outside, from the “real” world.  Ben let out a whoop of delight, starling Rey, who had been listening attentively to the voices from the portal, asking Yoda who and when and where they were coming from, seizing an opportunity for a history lesson. 

Soon enough, they stood before a Portal ringed with big, ugly, spiders. They heard him then: 

_“You are set on this confrontation then?”_ It was the deep baritone of the Bendu.

 _“I have to know the truth._ ” A woman’s voice. Both Ben and Yoda's mood dampened upon hearing it. 

The view within the portal opacified, then cleared again. Plated tree-corals appeared above the dry, burnt-orange slate of the desert planet.


	19. The Bendu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You complain of the temptation of Darkness, yet not of the temptation of Light? To rule justly, to eliminate suffering, to save everyone, to control the Darkness - in every being?”

“That doesn’t look like a grassy plain,” Rey commented. 

Ben looked disappointed, he’d been looking forward to visiting the wind-blown temple and maybe take care of some of the beasts. “Why did we come... now?”

“A memory of the Bendu, at a simple time in his life, you have seen,” Yoda replied. “But long ago, it was. In this time, near the end, is when he can help you.”

There was a tree-coral medallion above the door; the spiders circling the portal were repulsive, but Rey put her hand on the center of the circle and found it offered no resistance.

Rey crouched to give Yoda a hug, and after a minute, Ben did the same. He asked: 

“Will you accompany us on the way back?” 

The little Master shook his head. “No. Someone else would like to see you. Go now.” Then he added, as if the thought just struck him now: “And don’t break anything. Don’t _touch_ anything.”

**

They came through the circular portal, almost stumbling out into the intense heat of the desert. As they looked back, the black disk faded into a recess in the rock behind it, becoming transparent like glass. It was hard enough to distinguish that Rey decided they should leave Ben’s cloak before it, much to his chagrin. 

“If we don’t find it again, Ben, it won’t make much difference,” Rey said, “neither of us are even born in this time.” They both considered that: the _freedom_.

“Darth Vader and Palpatine are in full power at this time,” Ben reminded her.

“So? We could kill them now,” Rey perked up, “rid the Galaxy of them even earlier,” but Ben stopped her:

“If we did that, then my mother would never have called for Master Kenobi. Luke wouldn’t have found him and met up with my father. I wouldn’t exist.” Three years ago, such a prospect would have appealed to him. Not anymore. 

“Snoke?”

Now _there_ was a temptation. “I don’t know where he was at this time. Anyway we have people waiting for us.” _Don’t break anything._

As an extra precaution, he took out his lightsaber and made a few marks in the stone near the now-translucent stone, then checked the compass. It pointed to the portal. For the Bendu, they would have to find him some other way.

Instead of an endless sea of sand dunes, here were canyons of striped stones in shades of pink and orange. In their voyages of the past couple of years, they had avoided deserts, and so had their prey, preferring cities or jungles to camouflage their operations. The desolate landscape sapped at their morale.

“Where are we, anyway?” asked Rey. From their elevated point of view, they could see quite an expanse of dry, dusty rock. To their right, there was a forest — if one could call a forest what looked like a tangled mess of thick plates and limbs. 

The sun was behind them, not quite setting yet, and shadows from the wall of the scarp they stood on was creeping ahead of them, offering some relief. 

“We should probably make camp,” suggested Ben, but Rey shook her head. “We’ll make camp when it’s too dark to move forward. If the moon is bright, we’ll travel by night. We don’t want to be out in the open under that sun. We better hope the tarp is as thick as it is heavy.” 

“We should at least find our bearings.”

“Right. Do that. I’ll brew us some sweet tea and break out some rations.”

While Rey rummaged through their packs, finding her goggles and some extra wraps for her mate — _should’ve known we’d have to cross a kriffin desert_ — Ben found some inner peace and reached out to find the Bendu. 

It didn’t take long, but the Bendu was startled.

_*Another human come to disturb my slumber. How is it so many know me now?*_

The Bendu wasn’t a Jedi, he wasn’t in the World Between Worlds; Ben had met a dream, a memory of him that the Force had conserved. Meeting him now was a Bendu who didn’t know him. 

_*I crossed space and time to meet you, Bendu. You invited me. Us.*_

_*Did I? This is a time for surprises. Very well. I am not far. Mind the krikna.*_

_*The krikna?*_

_*The giant spiders.*_

_*Yes of course.*_

Ben woke. They shared a quiet meal, each thinking of why they had come in the first place. Ben wasn’t so sure anymore. Rey wondered why the Bendu would want to meet her, scavenger turned Jedi turned Dyad-half. 

When they were done they picked themselves up and headed down towards the forest of coral, their shadows growing taller before them though the sun still leached at their souls. 

As they trotted on, they spoke: 

“What else did you learn about this place?”

“There was a rebel base not far. It got destroyed in the next year,” replied Ben. 

“Shouldn’t we warn them?”

“Rey. We are here to seek guidance from the Bendu. Nothing more. Think of it.”

Rebels had died in the attack on Atollon. The Bendu had died — or disappeared, it was unclear — in that battle. Interfering with these events would have ripples of consequences neither of them could imagine. Millions could be saved. Or millions more could die, he realized. It was an immense power that the Dyad had been entrusted with by Master Yoda. And by the Bendu himself. 

_Don’t break anything._

His heart clenched. There was no greater proof of his forgiveness than this trust they had put in him. 

“Rey. We cannot decide the fate of those people. We don’t know the consequences. This is not our time, so this is not our world.”

Rey moved closer to him and took his hand. He looked down at her and in the twilight she gave him a wan smile. “For a moment there, it looked so simple.” 

They had made it to the edge of the forest. The sun had set. They made camp. 

*

It was Rey who found the windy grassland that night. There was a well nearby and she spent an hour cleaning the troughs in the temple, then carrying water from the well to fill each one dutifully. The beasts came to drink and one of them lowed at her to get her attention. It stood near one of the small wooden buckets, waiting expectantly. Rey looked at her, perplexed. After a moment, a calf appeared and moved to suckle at its mother’s udder. 

Rey shook her head and picked up the bucket to return to fetch water at the well again. When she turned back, the temple had disappeared. She heard the deep voice: “All in good time, then.” 

*

When she woke in the rose dawn, they were surrounded by giant spiders. Ben was making the morning caf. 

“You let them sneak up on us?”

“Not at all, I felt them coming; they’re quiet, but I could hear their curiosity. I wasn’t in the mood to chase them off, so they came close. We’re powerful enough they won’t attack us; calm enough too. 

Rey looked at the near empty gourd. They had only one more left. “Do you think they would know where to find water?” 

“You’ll have to ask them, I’m not a desert creature.” 

Rey moved tentatively towards the ugly creatures, seeing their googly eyes focus on her. She shook the gourd, sloshing the precious water in it. The creature came near, extended delicate pedipalps over the shown object. One of its palps brushed Rey’s hand and she startled. The creature skittered away, and Rey breathed through her nose to calm down. 

She finished the gourd and upended it over the ground, where one last drop hit the pale stone. The creatures took turns touching the dark dot on the ground, until it vanished, absorbed by the desert.

Once they were packed up and Rey had wrapped a proper turban around Ben's head — _I rather love those big ears, so let's protect them. And your nose. No you don’t fool me: you can breathe through that scarf —_ they started walking along the perimeter of the dense entanglement of bone-like trunks and plates, their host having told them there would be a path to him eventually. 

The sun was halfway up in the sky when they found it, and the broken shadow it provided once they penetrated into the forest proper caused both of them to breathe a sigh of relief. 

Small, turtle-like creatures with hard shells and stalk-eyes scurried about under the plates, and they were surprised to see a pair of convors looking at them curiously from atop a coral-plate.

When they broke into a clearing, it was mid-day, and they were out of water. Ben apologized profusely, and Rey let him. He would most probably suffer more from the lack than she would. She looked around: no creature that lived in an atmosphere they could breathe in lived without water; there had to be some somewhere. 

Some of the krikna were around, calmly pattering around on spindly legs. 

She touched the trunk of one of the trees, then its plate-like limb. The underside was cool to the touch, the texture brittle. She broke off a piece and examined it: it had a sponge-like structure, riddled with channels. Bringing it close to her nose she could just make out trace moisture. She tapped its trunk: it sounded hollow. She could hear the scurry of multi-legged creatures within it. She took out her knife and dug a bit at it. The white crust-like bark reluctantly gave way, but she found a drop of water with her fingers. 

The trunk appeared to drive into solid rock. 

“There’s the water, if you can get to it,” she said. The clearing dipped a bit, bowl-like, there were tunnel openings in the sides. Another krykna appeared from one of them: their homes then. It creeped towards Rey and as she looked at it, she saw the creature had mites attached to the joints between limbs. Parasites.

To the north there was an unusually large tree-coral with what appeared to be an atypically large trunk. If the coral was a hive-like colony, perhaps this one was a matriarch ?

But then it moved.

It rose and its head came up and for a moment Rey was reminded of the Tor Valum’s emergence. Much Force energy was contained in that monstrous hillock, but was it Light or Dark? Trying to read it yielded nothing. The entity seemed neutral. 

Rey stood, back straightening to brace for the immense presence. Ben Solo knelt, knowing it was better to bow than to risk being broken. 

The Bendu looked almost like Ben had envisioned him, maybe a bit greyer about the chin. He emanated a deep musk — not unpleasant — a reminder of how much he was connected to the earth. His eyes were indeed a cloudy white, though it was obvious he was not blind. 

*

“What have we here?” The Bendu looked from one to the other, nodding as it read some of their conscience. It was a gentle probe, and Ben found it easy to block the places in his mind he wanted to protect: the things he knew of the planet’s history, for one. Rey picked up on the need to keep some things unknown.

_Don’t break anything._

The rest, Ben left as an open book. 

After a moment, the Bendu appeared to be satisfied. 

When he spoke, they felt the words resonate throughout their whole being. “A Dyad in the Force. Unseen for generations. A power like life itself.” There was wonder in his voice. “You came here to seek balance. Does that mean you haven’t found it?”

“I’m constantly tempted.” Ben explained, “I can’t seem to resist.” He thought of the duel with the corrupted Icewolf. He could have let it go. He hadn’t. It had been an excuse to feel the Darkness course through him again. The _exhilaration_. 

Rey spoke: “I have touched the Darkside. I let it touch me.” The fingers, the mouths, the power. The _pleasure_.

Ben flinched at her words, as if struck. 

The Bendu considered their confessions before speaking again.

“Do you regret it? The touch? Do you regret _him_?” He indicated Ben with his thorny finger, and when Rey looked at her mate, she saw shame blooming on his face. 

“What? _No_ ! I don’t mean Ben! I mean… Ben is _my_ darkness. I had to take some of his Darkness for him to take some of my Light.”

“Is that what you think happened? Maybe your own darkness called to his, just like his Light called to yours.”

“No, it was a fair trade.” She was certain of it. Ben Solo straightened. 

“Hmmm. Perhaps it was, Rey Solo, Scavenger of broken things. But now you think you let some outside Darkness invade you. And _you,_ Kylo Ren, shadow of Ben Solo, think to find and keep some outside Light.” The Bendu paused.

Then he made a circular gesture with his hand, encompassing then both: “But you hold both, individually. And all of it, as the Dyad. How apt, that you are called the Solo Dyad; for you are indeed unique. 

“You complain of the temptation of Darkness, yet not of the temptation of Light? To rule justly, to eliminate suffering, to save everyone, to control the Darkness — in every being?”

“We _are_ tempted by the Light. Just coming here, now, there are so many things we know. Things we could change,” he looked at the Bendu, then quickly shuttered his face, but not before the giant raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward, as if tempted himself, then shook his head and leaned back, waiting. 

The Darksider continued: “The Jedi attempted to suppress the Dark for thousands of years, they failed. They fell to hubris. The Sith almost destroyed themselves with their own ambition. I was part of that ambition,” he said bitterly, “believing I was a failed Jedi. I wasn’t.” Saying it was like a balm. Repression of his Darkside — his anger, his passions, and his fears — had only made Snoke’s advances more appealing. 

“We are learning those lessons: the school is open to teach from both Dark and Light. Like the Grey.”

“Like the Je’daii,” the Bendu said, and there was a distinct accent in the pronunciation, Je- _daii_. They came before. Before even the Grey. They had their code.” He recited it:

> _There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._
> 
> _There is no fear, there is power._
> 
> _I am the heart of the Force._
> 
> _I am the revealing fire of light._
> 
> _I am the mystery of darkness._
> 
> _In balance with chaos and harmony,_
> 
> _Immortal in the Force.”_

The Bendu crouched down so they could see his face, level with theirs.

“Know this: you will never find rest. You will be forever in motion. That is the harmony, the counterpoint. Peace is not static. Stasis is Death. Rejoice that you are alive!

“You _have_ found balance: everyday when you wake up you must seek balance again. And every night, before you sleep, you merge your Darkness with your Light. You have been in balance for months… but it _is_ a cycle, a flux — like the tides of the ocean. Pulled by Ashla, then pulled by Bogan.”

He straightened again. 

“You came here for answers... I will not let you leave empty-handed. I will give you a new mission.

“You have put off the healing of the Ren long enough,” the Bendu told Ben. “And you, you will have your own Kyber to heal. This one’s old Master left it behind. You are the one who can find it. As the Dyad, you can heal both.”

“Snoke’s Kyber! But it must be floating in the space debris, around Crait. In the wreckage of the _Supremacy_.”

“Who better to find it then, than the Scavenger, hmmm?” 

*

The sun was high. The Bendu indicated one the tunnels: “Take this way back to where you came from. It will be more comfortable. The krykna will guide you.”

They were dismissed from the Being’s presence. 

*

Rey made Light as soon as they entered the tunnel. A spider crept ahead, leading them. 

Rey kept staring at the palm-sized lice attached to one of its leg-joints: did the krykna limp on that leg?

“Wait,” she called, and they stopped. She walked up to the creature, then spoke gently: “I can remove that for you, if you want.” She raised her hand to touch the smooth round body of the bloated parasite. The krykna hesitated, then relented; with the light close, Rey could see that the semi-transparent joint was hot and red.

She could see how the mite had wrapped spindly legs around the articulation. “Look, Ben: it has a sucker-tube inserted into where the shell is softer, it must have bored a hole into it.” Rey grasped the soft body and pulled, but it tightened its grip. It seemed the thing would rather come apart in her hand than let go. 

“I can see,” Ben replied. He put a hand on the bigger creature, gently probing for some past experience that might help them help it. Sure enough, he found multiple memories of krykna attempting to tear the mites off their bodies, only to sicken and die later, the still-attached head releasing a deadly toxin. “Don’t rush it, Rey. The mites have a defense mechanism we’ll have to bypass.” He shared the knowledge with her. 

They walked on while they tried to figure how to help the krykna. They passed a few passages left and right, faint noises hinting at some activity in some chambers. 

Other kryknas, some small, some large, passed them, curious, exchanging signals with their lead. They also had mites on them; some had missing limbs. 

“I have it! I know how!” suddenly exclaimed Rey, causing a scattering of spiders. 

She stopped their lead again. Then she approached the offending parasite and gave it a small tap on its head. The thing’s legs loosened, and Rey gently pried it away, like a fragile crystal tube from a console. It came away whole in her hand, unconscious. Then Rey touched her finger to the wound left by the feeding tube, and healed it shut. 

She dropped the creature to the ground, where its soft body split open on impact, killing it. 

“What did you do… did you stun it ?”

“Yes! Try it.” The lead krykna flexed its freed limb, then turned to look at the dead parasite on the ground, prodding it with its pedipalps. It turned to present a second bloated mite on another leg and Ben repeated the procedure he saw Rey doing, with the same result: the ugly thing released its hold and fell to the ground. Ben healed the wound and the krykna chittered excitedly, tapping the ground before it. Then it moved rapidly to guide them to a side tunnel. 

Inside the tunnel, once they floated a few light motes to the ceiling, they saw they were in an egg chamber. After her initial shudder, Rey also felt the unmistakable _feeling_ of being near a body of water. She saw white roots extend down from the ceiling to cistern-like pools on the floor: water collected from the tree-coral.

For the next hour, Ben and Rey became the center of attention of a whole hive of spiders, having inadvertently opened an impromptu parasite-removal clinic, in a gallery of tunnels, on Attolon, in the year 3 BBY. When the effort finally exhausted them, they filled their water gourds; then the creatures, seeing there would be no more miracles today, led them stumbling out to the open sky again. The sun was setting when they found the portal. They looked at it for a moment. 

“I’m exhausted. Do you really want to sleep inside the World between Worlds?” the Light-bringer asked. 

“Nope,” the fearless Warlord answered. 

*

They lay together, looking up at the star-filled sky. “Did he answer your question?” Rey finally asked. 

“If you mean telling me I already had the answer is an answer, then I suppose so, yes. You?”

“I don’t know why I kept hoping someone would punish me for falling to the Dark Side.”

“Really, I think the Dark suits you very well, but if you want punishment, I think I can oblige…”

“Oh? Is that so, Supreme Leader Kylo _fucking_ Ren? You think you can punish me? You can _try_!”

“Well now, my little fallen Jedi- _wannabe_ , I think a spanking would be a good start…”

*

High above the valley, facing towards the sunrise, dawn found them promptly and they hurriedly ate and packed before the scorching heat hammered them into stupefaction. They stood before the barely visible portal.

It felt as solid as the rest of the rock behind it.

“If we were stuck here… could we resist changing the future?” Rey asked, but before Ben could answer, the round stone faded to that twinkling black and inlaid krykna started once again circling the portal as a hand reached out and beckoned to them. 

They stepped through.


	20. Grandfather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey, on the other hand, had no inhibitions: “How did you fall to the Dark Side? How could you kill children? How did you survive being burned alive? Why did you survive?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is a very short chapter.

Before them stood an older man in his mid-forties. 

“Good thing I came to get you, then,” said the man. 

They knew that voice. Ben immediately knelt down, Rey stood, bracing herself. It was a habit whenever they came across these unfathomable beings, it seemed. 

“Grandfather…” Ben said, undisguised awe in his voice. He had seen the fallen Jedi in the windy temple in his vision on the night at the Eppenstin Mansion. He had looked then like he must have just before his fall, younger than Ben was now. But now, here, he felt more real. He appeared now as he must have looked like in the year before his death, or maybe only moments before, fresh-released from Darth Vader’s armor. The only thing that told him he was not actually in the flesh, was that his skin was unmarred and all his limbs were intact. 

Rey looked at the tall, bald man who had begun to thicken in the middle, but looked hale and stood straight and proud, in that military stance she still occasionally saw in Ben and Finn. 

“We were just discussing-” Rey started.

“ - _murdering_ me?”

“You kinda deserved it at that moment in time.”

Rey stood defiant. Anakin looked from her to Ben. “I can see what brought you together. Rise, son,” he told his grandson, then he laughed, “Fair enough. But Luke chose not to. That is what ended the war.” They started walking down the narrow, invisible path, their footsteps echoing in a muted drum. The Patriarch continued: 

“ _That_ war, anyway. Luke rejected the Dark. But you, young woman, you embraced it. In a _loving_ embrace. Like the Dyad before you.” He fell silent. “They survived. Had children. They were cast out of the Jedi order, but you don’t have to worry about that.”

They walked for a while, Ben saying nothing, questions swirling around in his mind, none of which seemed intelligent enough to voice out loud. He stared at the compass in his hand, the pearl’s focus also swirling around, as confused as he felt lost.

Rey, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions: “How did you fall to the Dark Side? How could you kill children? How did you survive being burned alive? _Why_ did you survive?”

Anakin found that Rey already knew the answers to most of her questions, he merely confirmed what she had understood of both men’s pasts: how they had been groomed from childhood by men much too powerful for them to resist. How the Jedi had denied the truth rather than address it. Denied the Darkness in everything; everyone. 

“I rose up, dressed in that mechanical armor, and that’s when Palpatine told me Padme had died. That _I_ had killed her. I was a monster. I couldn’t be Anakin Skywalker, Jedi hero anymore. I spent the next years being the monster. Trying to control everything… I thought I was bringing order to the Galaxy. 

“When my children showed up… well, it took a moment for me to understand I was their father, that I was _bound_ to them. I myself had not had a father, I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know it meant they were _of_ me, but they were _different_ from me. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”

Ben looked up at that. Han Solo. _Solo._

He heard Rey’s cry of anguish in his mind again. How that cry had pierced him as surely as a blade of Light. How Rage had escaped him at that moment, never fully inhabiting him again. It had fled to _her_.

Rey was asking the questions for him, he realized, and the answers were his as well. Fear of loss had condemned his grandfather; fear of abandonment and loss of hope had damned him. Hope for love had saved him, he was once again learning. But Rey was no ordinary woman. He had been sent a Force-user as powerful as he. Had she been sent to kill him? No... to contain him? To _complete_ him. 

“GrandFather… Did the Jedi send me Rey ? Did the Jedi make the Dyad?

“You may as well ask if the Sith lured her to you to corrupt her.” Anakin spoke after a moment. “I do not know this. You went to see the Bendu. What did he say?”

“That we are already in balance. That balance is a state of flux.” 

The fabled fallen-Jedi Hero looked as his fabled fallen-Jedi Hero grandson. 

“Stop asking yourself if you deserve her, Solo. Ask _her_.” 

The men looked at Rey. The words couldn’t quite croak out of Ben’s throat, so Rey answered his unspoken question:

“You needed me, Ben. Then you promised to end the war, and you did. Then you promised to end the Sith, and we did. We have been working hard together to bring peace to the Galaxy, not through control of star systems and governments, but by liberating slaves and now educating the few who are like us. You promised me I was not alone. I made that same promise to you.” She moved close to him to look him in the eye, then reached up to caress his cheek. He covered her hand with his own, then turned to kiss her palm before returning it to his cheek; his gaze met hers. 

“You promised me a family,” she finished. 

He leaned down, and kissed her. 

**

At first the way back seemed much shorter than the way to Atollon in the year 3 BBY had been. Anakin told them of the battles he had seen, both as Jedi and Sith, prompted by whatever voiced conversation they overheard as they passed the black and white portals. Their route was different, many paths could bring them to the same destination. And the young Je- _daii_ heard and learned more about the past. 

_“Ben!”_

Ben froze solid as they passed one portal. Above it was a circle containing a sixteen rayed circle, eccentric - the symbol of the First Order. Circling it were the distincts silhouettes of TIE-fighters.

 _“The Supreme Leader is Wise.”_ He heard the sing-song quality of the mantra. 

_“I’m being torn apart.”_

The portal remained dark. 

_Don’t break anything. Don’t touch anything._

They could only hear the exchange between father and son.

_“Yes. Anything.”_

Then they heard that high pitched scream of anguish: _“No!”_

 _“Thank you.”_

He fell to his knees, clutching his gut as if stabbed. Anakin knelt beside him.

“Ben. Get up. Think of how that left you vulnerable to the Light - the Darkness _failed_ you.”

He had had to hit bottom to free himself of Snoke, to be ready to face the Tor Valum. 

**

At the portal, Ben and Rey practically jumped through. They found Poe Dameron and Chewbacca packing up and about to leave. 

“So? How did it-?” Started Poe, but he stopped himself when he saw Rey shake her head, her face grim. Ben was white as a sheet, his eyes far far away, and Poe was reminded of the look he had seen in some of his comrades' faces over the years: shell-shock. He had seen it in the mirror a few times as well. They walked back in silence for a long moment before Ben Solo finally stopped and said, half-turning around: “I forgot to thank him. Them.” To which Chewie answered with a low growl that didn’t sound very polite.

**

They had marked the cave that contained the young kyber crystals, deciding against excavating them themselves. They would send a team instead. 

**

Back on board the _Dragon_ , the men finally noticed Ben's restored skin when he came out the ‘fresher with his towel around his hips. “When did that happen?” Dameron asked. It seemed his friend had exchanged one trauma for another. Or maybe healing had its own price.

“Before we entered the portal. Rey did that in the shallow pools.”

“Uh huh. No wonder that took so long. I didn’t know she could do that.” 

“She hadn’t before.” Ben touched his face again. “I feel naked without the scars.”

**

“So where do we go now ?” They sat in the lounge. 

They had recuperated “Coco the Convor” from the University Garden and Rey had decided to train it as a pet. They had stopped on Arda, for Maz’s peppers, and had a route planned to drop off the bit of cargo they had picked up to finance the trip. Now Rey and Ben had convened them for their next mission. 

“Oh, you’re gonna love this. First, we head back to Takodana to pick up Finn and then we get Rose.” The Scavenger could barely contain herself. Ben was starting to smile again. “And then, we go scavenge the _Supremacy_!”


	21. The Wreck of the Supremacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making Light in a vacuum proved to be so energy-demanding - having nothing to manipulate - that Finn and Ben gave up almost immediately while Rey held it for barely ten seconds. Rose lit her lantern and just laughed at them all, and each followed suit.

There it floated, silent. Apparently silent. As the _Dragon_ approached, it became obvious the wreckage was a hive of activity. 

The whole crew was crowded into the cockpit, looking at the wreck of the _Supremacy_ in awe, for most appreciating its sheer mind-blowing size for the first time without fear of being blasted out of existence. This was a ship almost as big at a moon. They looked at Ben Solo, who sighed at the spectre of the destruction that could have been at his fingertips. 

“I don’t think I could have pulled off that purge if we’d been at full strength,” he murmured, reminding them of the failed mutiny he’d goaded Enrich Pryde and the more fanatical elements of the First Order into attempting. “I don’t know what I would have done with that kind of power.” The ex-Supreme Leader of the First Order reached for Rey Solo’s hand, “I probably would have gone insane.” 

Over the year following the Mega-dreadnought’s demise, the First Order had managed to salvage much of the equipment and tech, including warships and research tech. Then as the Order’s mission transformed to one of peace, weaponry was progressively destroyed, and the immense wreck was guarded by a contingent of ex-troopers. Bit by bit it was being stripped for parts by small teams of scavengers either contracted... or bold enough to jump close to its hull to not be detected.

“So in a way, Admiral Holdo saved you, too,” Poe murmured in turn, reminding them of the near-impossible maneuver the purple-haired woman had pulled. 

“Ha, I doubt she considered that at the moment. She would have just as gladly put me out of my misery.” 

“We all would have. That’s what friends are for,” laughed Poe, and even Chewie had to laugh, though Rey frowned and grunted at them. She had another memory of that moment. 

“So. Do we go up there and inform them of our coming in, or do we try to sneak by security and call it an inspection if we get caught?”

“ _We sneak in_ ,” they said pretty much in unison, except Chewie, who thought they’d get shot if they showed up without official authorization. “<Or even _with_ an official badge: some of those scavengers are trespassing and they know it, they’re dangerous.>”

“Hey, only when we’re attacked!” retorted Rey, though she knew how some scavengers would turn into thugs and steal from weaker ones when they got desperate. She’d done it a few times herself. 

“You can stay on the ship, Chewie,” said Rose. “I am definitely going in there.” 

They could all fit in the shuttle — nicknamed the _Hatchling_ — and Ben knew exactly where Snoke’s private chambers had been. Rose and Finn accompanied them, Finn’s sensitivity useful if the crystal had been blasted out of its safety box. He could detect other Force-infused items the Darksider had collected: holocrons, ritual artifacts, other things. Poe would pilot them to their destination. 

They all donned their enviro-suits; keeping their helmets off until the pilot found a proper landing spot for the shuttle to attach itself to the hull so they could get out. 

The airlock opened and Rey took her first step into the void of space, then held on to Ben and Rose’s hand for a moment, until she felt the electro-magnets of her boots attach to the deck floor and she let go. This wasn’t so bad. 

Rose had had to spacewalk a few times around her and her sister’s bomber on occasion, to fix some stuck mechanism or another, and Finn’s training included the boarding of small enemy spacecrafts, and surviving such a boarding of their own transport, though he hadn’t actually put that in practice. 

Rey didn’t suffer from vertigo, years of climbing up and down dizzying heights inside defunct star-destroyers had inured her to that sensation. But when they stood on the edge of the broken deck and Ben pointed to the deck across a thirty meter gap, she made the mistake of looking down, and that almost made her throw up. 

Because what she saw below was not a fatal one or two-kilometer-fall that would crush her into a broken heap once she hit the ground.

Below her was _nothing_ . There was not even a _horizon_ . There was not even _gravity_. 

“It’s alright Rey, just look across, it’s just like swimming,” Rose told her, and Rey gave her a dirty look through the glass visor. She was barely past the dog-paddle stage of swimming. 

“Right. Well then, you have thrusters on this suit: it’s just like flying a teeny-tiny, body-sized shuttle. How’s that? Is that a better metaphor?” 

Ben pushed out ahead into the open void; and Rose joined him, carefully directing her thrusters, then Finn caught Rey’s hand and together, they jumped into the gap between wreck parts, their partners catching them before they careened into outer-space. 

Rey clung to Ben. He tilted his head to see how she was doing and her eyes were wide and anxious. “Try some of the thrusters, sweetheart,” he told her through comms, “I’ll compensate if you overdo it.”

For the next few minutes, Rey of Jakku learned how to fly through space. 

Ben had her spinning around gently, humming a tune he liked to dance to under his breath, to get her to adjust to a new horizon quickly; then they made their way to the nearest corridor. Making Light in a vacuum proved to be so energy-demanding — having nothing to manipulate — that Finn and Ben gave up almost immediately while Rey held it for barely ten seconds. Rose lit her lantern and just laughed at them all, and each followed suit.

As they advanced deeper into the leviathan ship, they crossed areas where gravity and life support had been restored, where “official” recuperation was still ongoing. Each time they crossed these areas, the contrast was like a small shock, knees buckling under the sudden weight. It was tempting to remove their helmets, but a close call after opening an unmarked door that led into an area with a blown port window had quickly convinced them to keep them on no matter the discomfort. 

After an hour of half-walking, half-flying through the ship, eerily empty where they avoided work crews and guards alike, they finally made it to the corridor that would take them to Snoke’s chambers. 

The door was ajar, and the rooms had been ransacked: the rare-wood bedframe and expensive moon-silk sheets nowhere to be seen, as the desk, paintings, clothing, tea-set, books or anything that had furnished the Revered Supreme Leader’s personal quarters and home. He had been vanished from the Galaxy. Ben smirked, remembering how he had unceremoniously defenestrated the Tyrant’s two halves out an airlock. There had been surprisingly little protest. 

All the Force-users closed their eyes to find whatever hidden cubbyhole or secret compartment had not already been discovered. 

After a moment they all turned to the same spot in a corner of the room. 

All there was there was a hole in the wall. A yellow-metal circular plaque-insert, with a hole in its center. The area behind it exuded malevolence. 

“Yuck!” exclaimed Finn, “that is definitely evil.” 

Ben looked at him.

“Dark. I mean Dark,” he amended. Then he thought again: “No. I do mean evil. With an E.”

Ben shrugged. “Yeah. You’re right. Snoke was not “misguided”, not at that ripe old age.”

Rose peered at it for a short moment before saying: “That is a keyhole.”

Ben put his finger in it. It fit just short of the first joint. It was an uneven, faceted shape, the bottom pyramidal. He could feel the cavity weakly grasp his finger. 

“Shit!” Ben suddenly exclaimed. 

“What?” Finn asked.

“The ring. I forgot to keep Snoke’s ring.” 

“So?”

“The ring is the Key.”

**

“So you’re saying the ring is out there, attached to Snoke’s body, floating in space?”

They were back in the Dragon, having lunch. Chewie had not stopped laughing for the past fifteen minutes, Rose joining in as often as not. The situation was grotesque. 

“Well, almost. It’s attached to one of his hands, which hopefully is close to his body. One of his body-halves, anyway.”

“You just threw him out there, no ceremony, no coffin, nothing. Man, the Dark side sucks.”

“Maybe ask Armitage ?” suggested Poe. 

Ben went to the comms, came back a few minutes later.

“He doesn't have it. He said he’d thought of retrieving it, but didn’t. It’s surprising, he usually picks up items of that sort. I expected him to have the lightsaber as well. But without the key, I suppose he couldn’t get it. He’s a bit pissed with me now.”

“The way I see it,” said Poe, trying to find solutions, “we either trawl for it blindly for the next six months, ask the guard office where they stash unclaimed junk, or you guys discover some Force way to call it to you.”

“Or maybe I can tune the ship’s instruments to find it?” Rose proposed. 

“You’d need some kind of Force-signature sample to know what you’re looking for.”

“It’s imbued with Darkness, that’s for sure,” said Ben. 

“Maybe one of our Kybers?” Rey proposed, looking at Ben.

“You mean _my_ Kyber.” He grew very still. _Malaise_ invaded the little space. 

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be your Kyber.” Rey relented, “What is Snoke’s ring made of?”

Ben sighed in relief, then caught himself, “He told me it was made from a shard of obsidian he chipped out of the caves near that Portal in Vader’s Fortress on Mustafar. He had it made to specifications by a Sith alchemist. He found it a better focus than his Kyber.”

Ben had a memory of himself as Kylo Ren, kneeling and listening raptly to his Master’s ramblings. Sometimes he’d pick up useful info. 

“We could go to Mustafar and get a sample,” piped in Rose. 

_Mustafar._

“Wait,” said Rey, “I still have this with me.” She retrieved her pack, rummaged for a few seconds through it, then brought out a small leather pouch, which she upended on the table, spilling its content.

It was the kyber crystal she’d plucked from the wall in the Caves of Light and Shadow.

The thing was a dark blue, not quite translucent. It definitely had a smoky quality to it. 

Ben picked it up, then passed it to Finn: “Feel that?”

“Yeah, freaky.” Finn passed it back to Rey, who shared it with Rose.

“If I can tell you what I feel from this crystal...maybe we can tune the instruments to pick up that — vibration? — as well.” 

“We can certainly analyse it with every sensor. See what’s so special about it.”

Ben brought out a quill and some parchment and started drawing the ring, remembering it and how it had been used to punish him. 

_It must be filled with my rage as much as Snoke’s_ , he thought. 

He showed the drawing to Poe and Chewie when he was done. “I guess we're going up to the guard office after all,” he said.

*

The guards looked from the drawing back to Ben Solo, trying to reconcile the killer and the artist before them. They looked at Chewie a few times as well. If the past month’s scandal had reached them, they kept their mouths wisely shut. Finally they agreed to just let their ex-Leader rummage through the room where boxes of untriaged parts and odds and ends were kept. Using Force-sensitivity, Ben found a dull-brown statuette, but nothing else.

Rose and Rey spent the whole day analysing the Dark-infused crystal, and Rey donned an improvised helmet that connected her brainwaves and her force-sensitivity, and the ship’s sensors — extending it further out than unassisted, adjusting the sensors accordingly. Finally the ex-Ren agreed to let her test its accuracy with his angry lightsaber. 

Poe and he took the shuttle out, and after some more adjustments, the Ren finally, faintly, showed up as a dim spot on the Dragon’s receiver screen. They had done it: they had created a machine that could amplify Force-sensitivity kilometers into the void. 

Rose and Rey were almost jumping up and down in excitement, while Ben and Finn were less enthusiastic about the tech. 

After hours of trawling around the huge ship, following the currents of drifting flotsam, they finally found a signal strong enough to follow it’s signature. 

When they were close enough, the Dyad decided to take the shuttle out, just the two of them. 

*

There was the hand, floating before them, and on it was the ring, radiating malevolence like a tiny black hole. Sitting in the cockpit, looking at the monstrous claw, Ben’s attention was pulled towards a point somewhat above and to the starboard of the shuttle. As a feeling of dread and revulsion filled him, he knew what the only thing that could make him feel that way could be. 

Only a few meters away, Snoke’s corpse was floating, frozen in space, eyes staring in shocked surprise. 

He felt Rey’s gentle hand settle on his shoulder. “He’s out there, isn’t he? Close.”

“Let's get the ring and get back to the others,” Ben said. 

“Wait. This is an opportunity. We could recuperate the body. Incinerate it.”

“What? Give that monster a proper ritual? He doesn’t deserve that.”

“No, Snoke doesn’t. But you do. You and Hux, and a few of us as well. Bury the past. Acknowledge it. Accept it.”

“Why? What’s the purpose? I'm so tired of the past.”

“Snoke made you. He made you strong enough to defeat him.”

“Snoke made _Kylo Ren_ . He twisted me into some almost unrecognizable monster like himself. _You_ are the one that made me strong enough to defeat him. You. And strong enough to defeat the Tor Valum. The only thing keeping me from the future right now is—” he stopped himself suddenly.

Words hung in the air. Unspoken reproach. Then Ben continued, resolutely:

“We get the hand, get the ring off the hand, throw it back out there. Hux won’t care for such a ritual. He didn’t mourn the monster, no more than I did, no more than Finn, or anyone else. Mom won’t care for such a “ritual” either. The “ritual” will be the healing of the Kybers: mine, and you can do Snoke’s. See how you enjoy that.”

*

They managed to scoop up the hand and as soon as the ring was secured they ejected it back out again. Rey hadn’t even wanted to manipulate the frozen appendage, and when Ben broke off the finger that held the ring she gagged and turned away. 

She piloted the _Hatchling_ back to the Dragon. 

It was late by the time they made it back and no one felt like donning the suits and clambering around in the wreck of the _Supremacy_ again. 

No one but Rey. 

So she went out there, by herself. She had a badge now, Chewie had secured a pair from the guard house after all, so she wouldn’t worry about getting shot or stopped. 

That they let her go by herself said a lot about being a Force-user in the Galaxy — about how much stronger and more dangerous they considered her to be compared to most sentients out there. 

After an hour of prowling around, barely resisting picking up a thing or two on the way to the ex-Supreme Leader’s chambers — what would she do with console crystal tubes now ? — she made it to her objective, took out the key and carefully inserted it into the hole in the wall. 

It took some effort and some fiddling, but finally she felt a connection take and she was able to turn the key. A panel opened and in it was the fabled lightsaber: it was a huge, unwieldy thing of black and gold and red. It radiated malevolence and she seriously worried she would throw up in her helm. 

There were other things in there, a datapad, some empire credits, a little box… and another key. She spent another half-hour examining the suite of rooms for more caches, but there was nothing else. She made her way back to the shuttle, then back to the Dragon, where Ben let her in. 

He’d been in the lounge, looking at the print they had commissioned to adorn the wall, the Grey Jedi code:

> _There is no Light without Darkness_
> 
> _Through Passion, I gain Focus_
> 
> _Through Knowledge, I gain Power_
> 
> _Through Serenity, I gain Strength_
> 
> _Through Victory, I gain Harmony_
> 
> _There is only the Force_

While she was gone he had transcribed the _Je’daii_ code in his precise, flowing calligraphy:

> _There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._
> 
> _There is no fear, there is power._
> 
> _I am the heart of the Force._
> 
> _I am the revealing fire of light._
> 
> _I am the mystery of darkness._
> 
> _In balance with chaos and harmony,_
> 
> _Immortal in the Force.”_

As with the Grey code, he felt this code left something to be desired. He couldn’t quite imagine what yet. He’d put the new sheet of parchment next to the other, fixed it in place. 

They looked at it for a while. Somewhere in the middle, there was balance.


	22. The Crystal Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meditation trance released them. It was a moment before anyone moved or said anything. Some cried, some laughed nervously. The Jedi Force-ghosts faded away while The Dyad got to their feet. 
> 
> “Let me see, it is healed?” Leia moved close to her children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished Broken Glass and when I came back to this fic, I realized I had already added a second plot and could not do anything more but finish this sequel to my SW IX re-write.  
> I went over it again and again, and tweaked it here and there, so if you had already made it this far, you may find a few surprises that I have since then seeded in previous chapters. Not many, just a few.  
> Have a good read!

The little velvet-lined jade box contained eight Kyber crystals. Ben remembered finding four of them with his Ren. Three from Jedi warriors that had survived Order 66 and one from a widower whose mate had recently died before they found him. Of those kybers, only one had still been in a Lightsaber; he remembered that fight: the old man had fought bravely and Kylo had been wounded in the exchange. 

Two must have been found by the Ren before him. 

Two had been from his Jedi mates. One was Tai’s. The other was Voe’s. He knew they were theirs even though he didn’t remember taking them. 

He had aligned them on the galley table and stared at them quietly, while Poe and Rose rejoiced at having found so many to give to the new students. 

The crystals were all different hues, from rose to mint. He picked up Voe’s; it was still angry with him. All the kybers were angry, but Voe’s was rose-colored because it was pale-red.

He let out a long sigh, uncharacteristic for him, and the rest of the crew looked at him and hushed. 

“Sorry, I’m just… overwhelmed at the moment.”

“What is it?” asked Finn, who picked up one of the Kybers and turned it around in his fingers, trying to feel for anything wrong with it. 

Rey and Rose were fiddling with Snoke’s big red-and-gold Lightsaber, Rey with her tongue stuck between her teeth in concentration. Between the two women, the thing was coming apart quickly, and for every layer removed the Force-Sensitives could feel the Evil oozing from the central chamber. 

When it was finally breached and the Kyber fell on the table, Ben felt his stomach turn and he got up and left the room to retch in the ‘fresher. 

The thing looked like a lump of blood petrified in a translucent sheath of amber as big as a man’s thumb. Every one barely suppressed nausea, even Chewie. Rey, attuned to Ben, gagged in earnest and in turn excused herself. 

*

“Those Kyber crystals are tainted, like the one from Spintir” Finn deduced. Ben looked embarrassed, and Rey took his hand. They were making their way back to Takonada after dropping Rose off on _The Promise._ She only had a few weeks left before graduating. 

“I guess we’ll just have to heal all of them,” Rey added. “Makes sense that healing would reappear in the world just as the Jedi needed it most.”

“They’re not bled, Rey, they’re tainted. They spent years trapped in that vault with Snokes Kyber, who must have whispered horrible things to them the whole time.” Ben held Tai’s Kyber in his hand; that one at least seemed to be almost pure in comparison. It did have a wisp of darkness in it now, and Ben felt there was something to learn from this. 

“We’ll have to find a way to… cleanse them, then.” Finn said, brows furrowed in doubt. 

Ben put down Tai’s Kyber and reluctantly reached for Snoke’s: that Kyber had been bled. It felt heavy in his hand and oily on his Life-Force. He’d come across that oily feeling before, like greasy soot: when probing the new Darksider they’d found, Kali. When Rey gave in. 

It was also in Bolvuss’s fantastical sculptures. 

He closed his eyes and reached inside for the Force.

The Force made Life. The Force also took life. It did both. It _was_ both. There was a balance. Both the Jedi and the Sith had continually upset that balance to gain the upper hand. He’d played an active role in that, almost succeeding until the Force had put Rey in his path and stopped him, cold. 

Together, Rey and he had killed the last great Darksider, Snoke, and the last Sith Master — as impotent as he was — and that had countered somewhat for Luke’s death and the Jedi he had tracked down and killed himself. 

He and Rey held that balance, not as enemies, as they would be if he had completely lost the Light and she had repulsed the Dark, but as the Dyad.

“There’s no need to cleanse them, they’re not ‘dirty’; they just… they lost their innocence, you could say. Like us,” Ben concluded. 

*

On Takodana, Coco the Convor half-ran, half-flew to Rey and she picked it up and placed it on her shoulder. Its feathers were coming in in rich hues of gold and tan with hints of orange on its head and in bands on its tail. It wrapped it around her shoulders and cooed at her, and Rey pat it awkwardly, unused to having a pet. Then she looked down at BB-8 and wondered at the similarity between the two creatures. BB-8 beeped inquisitively and continued after Poe. 

After a moment, the bird gave a funny squawk and hopped down and went back to the student compound. 

Rey felt Snoke’s Kyber crystal pulse between her breasts where she had tucked it under her breast-band, close to her heart. The thing was ranting again, and she touched it over her tunic to soothe it. Ben had reluctantly agreed it was the best place to keep it to start the healing process, but he didn’t have to like it. 

He had his own healing process to attend to. It would be a two-step procedure: first he had to heal the crack in his crystal. Then he had to share his renewed love for life and gradually earn its trust again. 

All while negotiating some acceptance of Darkness with it. 

Rey and Finn went inside what they guessed was the main school building, judging by its size and classical appearance compared to the more “organic” structures rising up around it — to find Leia and start the distribution of the found crystals. It would be a complex process, matching students to Kyber, to ensure compatibility and balance on a level never sought before. Students with ‘darker’ crystals would need additional monitoring. The possibility of periodic Kyber ‘exchanges’ was discussed. 

“Hard to tell how much influence a dark crystal can have on a younger person,” Leia mused, looking at Rey’s chest. Rey took the hint and dug the thumb-sized stone out. 

The women stared at the angry stone. “I do manage to soothe it. And it had been locked up for years with the others, see?” Rey brought the Kyber to eye-level, angling it just so for Leia to see a dim pinpoint of Light within its wine-red depth. 

“You’re becoming our expert DarkSider-saver,” the Scavenger heard just a hint of sarcasm in her mother-in-law’s tvoice, “though it cost you much in the exchange, I’m sure.”

“Did it? I had nothing but Hope on Jakku,” Rey answered, alluding to her bleak existence on the barren junkyard planet. “Now I have everything I could ever want. I’m happy.” 

“Are you? You look happier. My son looks happier too, though you both still have quite a path before you.”

**

Ben was growing used to wielding Anakin Skywalker’s saber, Rey having agreed to part with half her Light-staff so he wouldn’t be unarmed while the healing progressed. 

On the third morning since their return to Takonada, he climbed back to the pool where he had teased Rey’s banked coals back into the fire he needed to live. The water was low, revealing a little island in the center and he leapt to it, finding it mossy but dry. He sat down, took his now-freed Kyber in his hand, and began the healing meditation. 

He was pleased to find the wind-blown temple again. He hadn’t been sure he would after finally meeting the Bendu in the flesh. The God-like creature appeared when he finished grooming the second wooly beast. 

He was grimy and covered in beast-hair but grinning. He wondered why they hadn’t thought of founding the school on Kef Bir instead. 

“This place is Tython, a long time ago,” The Bendu answered his thoughts. “The temple was destroyed in the conflict that took place there.”

“I could rebuild it.”

“You could. To tell you the truth, I rather like that you come visit me here.”

Ben accepted the compliment with joy, “I’ve actually let myself be distracted from my task, Bendu. I have to heal my Kyber now,” he sheepishly admitted. “And I’m not sure how to proceed…”

“Ask it for forgiveness, Ben Solo, son of Han, grandson of Anakin.”

Ben hesitated. The Bendu picked up on this.

“You don’t need Kylo Ren anymore. You killed Snoke. Ben Solo survived. Those years’ experience will always be there, you will never forget them. Neither will your Kyber.” The Bendu leaned forward and spoke gently. “Free your Kyber from the pain, Ben Solo, Je’daii Knight. Let go of Kylo Ren.”

Ben Solo turned his meditation trance to the Kyber he held in his hand. He pushed his awareness forward into its heart, gently probing the mineral sentience. The Light in his mind shone brightly and eventually he found a sharp edge: the beginning of the fracture. 

It was all pain. Ben begged to be allowed to heal it. 

And to his surprise, he was quickly accepted. He saw images of the past two and a half years flitter before his eyes: his path back to the Light. The crystal had been with him every step of the way. It _knew_ him.

The sharpness dulled and the parts became whole again. 

When he woke, it was dark in the flooded clearing. Chewie sat up from where he had been reclining and whined softly at him from across the water. He turned up the lantern he had brought.

Solo looked at the stone in his hand, it glowed a soft pink. “How long was I gone?”

The wookie grunted. 

“Three days!” Ben gaped. 

The wookie snorted and laughed. “<I’m joking. But the sun should come up soon. I brought snacks.”>

The tall, dark and handsome man rose on shaky legs. That was still almost a full cycle. Leaping off the tiny island back to solid ground took more effort than he had prepared for and he nearly didn’t make it dry. Luckily, Chewie caught him. 

“<Whoa there, sit. Here, have some tea and something to eat, before we go back down.>”

In the pre-dawn, while drinking cold tea and chewing a strip of dried meat, they spoke of the plans they each had for the years ahead. When it was light enough to walk without tripping up, they headed back to the school, meeting Finn coming up to relieve the Wookie. 

“How did it go?” 

Ben showed him the pale-red crystal.

“Looks good. You’ll have to build a new saber.”

“No. This thing’s killing days are over. I’ll find a better use for it.”

***

Months seemed to fly past as Rose came home and her degree was immediately employed to help the school design housing and electronics to use the Kybers in new and unusual ways. 

Her engineering skills were challenged with developing a multitool that would help focus Force-sensitivity to analyse flux currents in engines or electricity in circuits and repair them. It helped understand Droids on a whole new level: they were filled with the Force as well as any “living” being. 

With Rey and Ada, they worked on medical tools. 

With Bolvuss the Gran and Ben, the arts were favored, a tri-dimensional sculpting brush was taking shape. Hux was most excited about this development. 

The students were encouraged to keep the naked stones close to their hearts in little silken satchels they hung from their neck or tucked in a pocket. Just having them close helped them focus their Force-abilities. Learning to recognize emotions and to keep them from spiralling out of control was crucial at this time. 

Meanwhile, Rey struggled with Snoke’s crystal, until finally she asked her Dyad-half for help. 

Under her care, the ugly thing had faded to a pulsing dark orange-gold, somedays lighter, somedays almost sanguine again. It still ranted in some incomprehensible language from time to time, especially when Ben was near, and they had to keep it outside the _Dragon_ every night before they went to bed else it would disturb their rest. They’d tried to keep it in the cabin but that had been a mistake. The couple had actually hurt each other some nights. 

“ _Why_ don’t we destroy it again?” asked Ben, exasperated by the crystal’s resistance. 

“You know the answer to that better than me,” was the tart reply. 

Between the Bendu’s demand and Rey's stubbornness, the Old Monster’s crystal would be turned back to the Light, or at least pacified, even if it took all year to do so. 

*

_*I wonder if you could find Palpatine’s Kyber…*_

_*Very funny, grandfather, we’ll go look for yours too, while we're at it. Heal ALL the crystals.*_

_*Maybe we can help.*_

_*Good. Meet me at the portal on Spintir and I’ll toss Snoke’s right to you.*_

_*No I don’t mean that way.*_

_*_ _Of course you wouldn’t.*_

_*As the Dyad, young Solo, you must do it.*_ Yoda piped in. He was right.

*

They sat spooned together, Rey in Ben’s lap, hands clasping the ugly crystal between them.

All the older Force-sensitives were there to support them, sat around in a circle. 

As the meditation trance took the group, the old Jedi Force-Ghosts appeared. 

A vision of a young man appeared, of a species similar to but taller than humans. He was walking disconsolately through the streets of Coruscant. 

Suddenly, he lifted his head as if hearing a voice. His features changed from one of despair to one of anger, to one of hope. Another figure appeared in the vision, dark and foreboding. 

A flash forward and the young man is presented to Darth Bane, who sends him further into the Core. 

Sitting in a lone one-man starfighter, the young man stares into the Remnicore’s malevolent darkness, terrified of making the jump to its center. 

“Young Snoke, don’t you trust me? After all the Jedi have done to you, rejected you, rejected your power?” a gravely new voice spoke. A voice the Dyad knew.

Ben Solo shuddered and broke into a sweat. Rey snuggled back into him and he leaned his head to rest on her shoulder, cheek-to-cheek with his Light-half. 

The darksiders in the group, angry force-sensitives prone to violence, almost all of them coming from a past of abuse and neglect, leaned forward with interest. The Force-ghosts did as well. 

The lone starfighter punched through the dark matter shield, and made its way to the terrible planet tucked between the binary stars.

"My boy. I am so pleased you came to me."

The vision faded to black. Then there was tremendous pain. Pain felt by the Kyber crystal the Dyad held tight in their hands.

They soothed it. Told it stories of hope, of redemption, of understanding. Everyone who could, participated in the healing process. 

_*Denied ourselves compassion, we Jedi did. To ourselves and everyone else. That is our failure.*_ Yoda's spirit turned to Anakin's: _*Forgive us, Anakin Skywalker. We were blind to our own darkness, and distrusted you.*_

The meditation trance released them. It was a moment before anyone moved or said anything. Some cried, some laughed nervously. The Jedi Force-ghosts faded away while The Dyad got to their feet. 

“Let me see, it is healed?” Leia moved close to her children. 

Rey opened her hand; on her palm lay a golden crystal, shining brightly. The center held a drop of crimson, like a drop of blood. It sang a new song, hesitantly, and Ben wiped his eyes and smiled at it. 

“If this is as good as we can make it, I’m still impressed,” he stated, and they all nodded at that. 

***

As she lay sleeping, he stroked her arm to feel for the pellet there, berating himself for relapsing. It wasn't there. Surprised, he searched for it some more, thinking he was mistaken, felt her other arm in case she had changed it for some reason. There was none. He sat up, fully awake: maybe she had switched to a different kind? His mind raced. When did she take it out? Could she be already...? Should he wake her up and ask her? 

She turned over and groggily answered "All right, all right, _Maker,_ Ben could you think any _louder?_ About a month ago. It can take up to six months before my cycle's restored. I'll let you know when it happens. Good night!" and she fell right back to sleep. Ben Solo wanted to get up and _dance_. 

“Umph, what are you doing? Ben, it’s the middle of the fakking night! Oh. _Ooooh. Aaah._ ”


	23. Epilogue - New Hopes

The Naboo rose garden was growing on Takonada. The vegetable patch was doing well too. Friends and allies had donated fruit trees for an orchard, and those were Rey’s care, but the flowerbeds were Ben’s. 

It was near these garden grounds, within sight of Maz’s Cantina, that Finn and Rose Tico, and Armitage Hux and Mateo Bolivano took their vows, ordained by Maz Kanata herself — though how she had the authority to do so was nebulous at best. Still, the official paperwork was all in order, bouquets flew in the air, and music started in joyous celebration. 

The students had been encouraged to display their artistic abilities, and many made their first sales that day. System dignitaries from all over the galaxy were reassured to find new, peaceful ways for the Force-sensitives to co-exists with “ordinary” people, and promised more funds for the school. For many species, this meant an end to the witch-hunts. 

After the weddings, the couples went on honeymoons while Poe and Ben and Chewie visited Poe’s father on Yavin IV — now that the trauma had diminished for Ben Solo — and then to Kef Bir to visit Poe’son and Jannah, who wanted another child, but would not give up her tribe and the nomad way of life on the wind-swept plains, to Poe’s consternation, He couldn’t imagine a life without flying across the stars, but understood Jannah’s free spirit as almost the same as his own. Their arrangement was an amicable one. 

Then, they travelled to Chewie’s homeworld, Kashyyyk. Meeting up with Mallatobuck was crucial to working out the malaise still undermining the relationship between Ben and his cousin Lumpawaroo. The offer to assist in the official mating rite of his cousin was passed as a message to Lumpy, who was away on business. 

A few more trips, not smuggling but transporting legitimate cargo, and Ben was relieved no one was asking him for “diplomatic duties” anymore. Besides, with the Droids, they were working to support Droid rights, and other serf-like people like miners and agro-workers. 

That was on top of preparing course-work, something the ex-Master of the Knights of Ren was still learning himself, often remembering how enthusiastically he had proposed to Rey to “be her teacher and show her the ways of the Force”. She didn’t let him forget it. 

A new version of the Je’daii Coda was up on the wall, still not perfect. It would never be. They would constantly seek to improve it, to balance the emotions within. 

> _There is no Light without Darkness,  
>  Light reveals Knowledge  
> Darkness hides Chaos  
> I will find the chaos within me  
> I will face my fears and my anger  
> I will bring them into the Light  
> I will accept them as Passion  
> And to that passion I will give Life  
> And Joy and Love._

***

The second morning Rey Solo woke up with nausea, she knew this was it. She was not “late”. 

She went to the med facility and took one of the little chemical tests to confirm her state and there it was, written in blue and white. She was not just skipping this month too. The seed had taken. 

The next few days of waiting for him to come back were excruciating. Keeping a calm demeanor and their contacts brief was excruciating. Teaching was the only thing she could focus her mind on, though she kept her secret. Her family was finally starting; her days as _the Dragon_ were ending as well. Had she done enough? They had more than two dozen students and saved thousands of people from slavery. They had created a safe place for Force-users, away from war and politics. 

Ben and Finn Tico — now back at the school — the others, and her, had put together a real, comprehensive outline for this third contingent of students. They had found fitting ways to deal with the emotions that fuelled the Dark side and the Light side of the Force, though they nuanced it more. 

She had found how to deal with her own Dark impulses. Maz had suggested offering her services to salvaging businesses, taking down old buildings or ships for parts. With dancing, it was an interesting substitute. A substitute for the violence that still peeked through now and then. She would have to learn to live without enemies. To live in peace. With hope. As well as Ben had. Ben, who was finally coming home today. How would she let him know?

She wasn't going to run and jump into his arms and squeal "Weeee!" into his ears, cry-laughing like some idiot fan-girl. She had more dignity than that. She put her hand over her womb, took a deep breath and felt inside her. There it was. A tiny heartbeat. It was so very rapid. Wait. _Maker!_ Ah hell, maybe she would jump into his arms. 

When Poe, Finn and Chewie came down the gangplank just ahead of Ben Solo they saw Rey running excitedly right pass them straight to her husband, jump into his arms and whisper something into his ear. He stiffened, put her down before him and said: "Are you sure?" and when she yelled _"Yes!"_ He picked her up again and swung her around and around, and then just held her tight. They kissed. He put her down and then he picked up again. They kissed some more. They were totally oblivious to the world around them. 

Chewie let out a mighty cry of joy. Poe and Finn looked on half-shocked, half-enchanted by the scene before them, then Poe slapped Finn on the back and said "Guess that leaves you!" 

* The End *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you can't put it all in, as I learned with Broken Glass.  
> I thought of going on adventure after adventure, and we still might, but each adventure deserves its own story, whereas the main focus of this one was for Rey to embrace the Dark side and come back wiser, and for Ben to become steadfast in his commitment to peace. 
> 
> And for my Solo Dyad to have their HEA. 
> 
> As always, comments are encouraging, as I hope my particularly _niche_ vision of Reylo brings comfort to some of you.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment, it really helps!


End file.
